A quick way to core tomatoes is to slice off the end and use a grapefruit spoon to scoop out the core. —Nancy Johnson, Lombard, Illinois
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If your recipe calls for a can of chopped tomatoes and you have a can of whole tomatoes, insert a knife into the opened can several times to cut the tomatoes. It’s much easier than using the food…
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Put extra garden tomatoes in a plastic freezer bag and store in your freezer. To use in soup, stew or sauce, just hold the frozen tomatoes under warm water, and the skins will slip right off. Drop…
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To peel tomatoes quickly and easily, cut a shallow "X" on the bottom of the tomato. Put it into a pot of boiling water for about 1 minute, then rinse under cold water. The skin will peel right…
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To ripen green garden tomatoes, put them in brown paper bags. Don't stack too many in one bag, or they might get bruised. Check them every few days and remove the ripe ones. —Delia Kennedy,…
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For a pretty gift, I tie hot red peppers to a jar of homemade canned salsa and decorate it with raffia. —Karen Shaw, Selden, Kansas
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Summer is the perfect time of year to enjoy fresh juicy tomatoes in all types of recipes. It's usually not necessary to remove the seeds from tomatoes before using. But for some recipes, seeding…
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The best way to cut through the skin of a tomato is with a serrated, not straight-edged, knife. Cut a tomato vertically, from stem end to blossom end, for slices that will be less juicy and hold…
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Also called a Mexican green tomato, the tomatillo is a green fruit that is covered with a thin papery brown husk that is removed before using. It resembles a small green tomato in size and shape,…
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I save leftover tomato paste by freezing 3-tablespoon-size portions in ice cube trays. Then I transfer them to a heavy-duty resealable freezer bag. It's easy to remove a frozen cube whenever I…
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