Tomato Preserves

Photo: flickr user thebittenword.com

Ingredients

quart peeled small yellow, green,

or red tomatoes - (abt 2 lbs)

1 tablespoon mixed pickling spices

1 piece ginger root - (½" long)

4 cups sugar

1 cup thinly-slicked lemons - (abt 2 med)

cup water

Preparation

Wash and drain tomatoes. Do not core tomatoes.

Tie spices and ginger root in a bag. Combine spice bag, sugar, lemon and water in a large saucepan. Simmer 15 minutes.

Add tomatoes; cook gently until tomatoes become transparent, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 12 to 18 hours in a cool place.

Remove spice bag. Remove tomatoes and lemon from syrup. Boil syrup 2 to 3 minutes or longer to thicken. Return tomatoes and lemon to syrup; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.

Ladle hot preserves into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 20 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

This recipe yields about 6 half-pints.

Yield: 6 half-pints