My dad has his own kitchen in the basement where he does his own canning. He definitely is a "jack of many trades". He hunts and cleans his own meat. He fishes. He is a builder. He served in the navy. He farms. There are may things that I have learned from my dad over the years and I value every one of them. My dad is very special to me. I was very excited to have this time with him.
I had a wonderful time with my dad when we were together. He asked if I wanted to learn how to can tomatoes. And of course, I was so excited to do that with him. It was a wonderful time as we sunk our hands into tomato guts. He taught me about the different kinds of tomatoes and how certain ones are better for sauce.
First we had to wash the tomatoes. Then put them in a pot for just a minute to boil the skins off.
Then we took off the skins and bad parts. The really messy part was then to squeeze out all the seeds. We cut them up and put them into a bucket.
My dad had a great system going. He would wash and peel the tomatoes and I would squeeze out the seeds and cut them up.
Later, after he sterilized the canning jars, he was packing the tomatoes into the jar. He had this plunger thing to squeeze as many tomatoes as he could get into the jar and to get all the water out. The first time he did that, the juice and water squirted everywhere. I couldn't help but laugh. My mom had given me an apron to protect my clothes...but it really did very little good. My skirt past the apron got all wet from juice and when my dad squirted juice it went everywhere.
I loved spending this time with my dad. He is such a wonderful teacher. I thought we worked great together. Later my mom brought us lunch. My dad requested his special spaghetti sauce that he made. So we paused for a nice lunch. My dad makes the best spaghetti sauce. It is a bit spicy...but has some great flavor.
After lunch, we got back to work. I didn't have a whole lot of time left...so he quickly explained the rest of the process. The children were upstairs with grandma watching a movie and having lunch with her. They would periodically come down and check on us to see what we were doing. They were not too excited about getting into the tomato mess. But I assured them that one day they would be doing it with me...just like I am doing with my dad.
It was great that my mom was willing to sit with the children. It really gave me some much needed time with my dad. We talked about doing pickles next week or maybe some apples. We'll see what my dad has up his sleeve for next time :)
What a wonderful way to spend the time with my parents. This is one of the greatest presents anyone could give me.
"Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving me time with my earthly father. It was nice to share an experience like this with him. Thank you for my dad's time and his willingness to do this with me. And thank you for my mom watching the children and having us all in their home. This is a memory I will cherish forever."
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