Friday, September 5, 2014

Thursday September 4 (base)

Another warm, humid day in Ohio today although it is quite windy. I worked on some IT things on Lisa's laptop then she took me down to her friends where I saw and helped a wee bit with the first stage of her Salsa production.

Today, and as the tomatoes ripen, it is the juicing for freezing phase. The tomatoes are washed and cut into segments. Then they are gently hand pressed before being passed through the juicer in batches. just over 20 quarts were produced today and 100 quarts is needed for the next phase.

In October when all the tomatoes have been picked, juiced and frozen, the juice will be cooked in a large copper kettle over a fire. It has to be a nice day as this is done outside. there is a wooden paddle on a lung handle as the fire gets so hot. The juice cooks for about 6 hours, reducing and thickening, then green pepper and onion is added. This cooks for a further hour or so when the spices are added and the liquid cooked for a further hour. It is then bottled on mason jars.

It was very interesting as I have never seen Salsa production before and is quite a complex process. I also managed some quality time with their new kitten, Sammy, she is very beautiful as well as very lovable.

I was given a tour of the huge basement, big enough to house a large TV and viewing area and a full size Pool table made by Karleen herself. It is certainly a great surface and she used one inch slate to make it!

Once back at base I grabbed a shower and managed about 4 hours sleep before heading off to the Doughbox again with Lisa. It was not so busy as there were fewer cookies to be made. It was good o see everyone again and say au revoir for now.

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