tomatoes a la can

My MIL (Mother-in-law, a.k.a. Friend) and I were talking about that O so common stay at home mom question:“What did I do today?”It’s rough, having a list of tasks that you’ll just have to rinse and repeat the next day. Everyday. For the long foreseeable future. Laundry, dishes, cook, feed, change. Shoot, even working out and showering are getting repetitive.So, what did I do today? A whole lot that I’ll have to do again tomorrow.Then my wise and thoughtful MIL/FRIEND shared something she did when staying home with my husband (a then-toddler) and OBrother (a then-infant. O did I mention she did the whole two-under-two thing?):“I tried to do one thing each day that I wouldn’t have to do again for a while.”The woman is brilliant. Amazingly high-energied and brilliant.And so the natural response to a challenge like that? Why we canned tomatoes of course!11 one-quart jars of tomatoes. It was wonderful and I had no idea what I was doing, but now I could can with the best of them!But not tomorrow. Or for a very long time.To answer the question of what I did today last week:I took 20 pounds of organic tomatoes that I special ordered from our crop-share farm…Performed all sorts of domestic arts on them (as instructed by MIL/FRIEND)…And ended up with enough gorgeous cans of tomatoes to last us the winter…Which the Farmer’s Almanac tells me is going to be one of the coldest on record (global what-ing?). I tell you this so that you can prepare now for the moaning and complaining that will fill this page come February. You have been warned.But hey. We’ll have tomatoes.