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Melba Lovelace, Food and Dining Columnist

Read more columns by Melba Lovelace.

Contact Melba --Email: mlovelace@opubco.com. Phone: (405) 752-0194.

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Brighten troops’ holiday with ornaments

By Melba Lovelace Comments 0
Published: November 11, 2009

DEAR MELBA: The HUGS project is still up and running, and our military troops have requested we send them homemade Christmas ornaments again this year. They can be crocheted, knitted, sewed, crafted, etc. We furnish ornaments every Christmas, and the troops take them when they leave for home. These ornaments will be hung on their Christmas trees probably for the next 50 years to remind them and their families that someone cared for them while they were serving a world away.

If readers want to help, they can e-mail me at weil.loist@yahoo.com or call 923-0925 for more information.

Lois Weil, City

DEAR MELBA: Susan H. is looking for a recipe for Tomato Preserves. I’m sharing my favorite, found in the Kerr home canning book. I used this recipe for years when I was still able to have a garden. It’s the same recipe my Granny used.

My preference for tomatoes is cherry tomatoes. I just cut them in half after peeling.

TOMATO PRESERVES
5 pounds ripe tomatoes (11 cups quartered)

8 cups sugar

2 lemons (sliced thin)

→Scald, peel and quarter tomatoes. Add sugar and let stand 6 to 8 hours.

→Drain, and boil liquid rapidly until it spins a thread.

→Add tomatoes and lemons and boil until thick and clear, then pour into sterilized jars to within ½ inch of top.

→Put on cap, screw band firmly tight, and process in boiling water bath 10 minutes.

→Yield: 5 pints.

Theresa Burkett,

Lone Grove

DEAR MELBA: This recipe is similar to one from the "Better Homes and Gardens Home Canning Cook Book.”

TOMATO PRESERVES II
2 pounds ripe tomatoes, approximately

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

¼ cup lemon juice

6½ cups sugar

1 bottle (6 ounces) liquid fruit pectin

→Peel tomatoes and cut into eighths or crush. You’ll need 3 cups. Measure into 8- to 10-quart kettle. Simmer 10 minutes.

→Add lemon peel and juice; stir in sugar. Bring mixture to full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard, uncovered, 1 minute.

→Remove from heat; stir in pectin. Skim foam with metal spoon. Pour at once into hot, sterilized jars; seal.

→Makes 7 half-pints.

Kathy, City

Ann Pereez, Kay Mullins, Patty Mogg, Oklahoma City; Dave Farrington, Helen Platt, Midwest City; Flo Housewright, Ardmore; Wanda Carollo, Tuttle, and Vera Weisbrod, El Reno, also shared.

It is recommended that all preserves be processed in hot-water bath.

Melba

DEAR MELBA: We’ll be hosting our Earthglow Market from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at United Methodist Church of the Servant, 14343 N MacArthur.

It will feature gifts and holiday decor plus a bake sale. Proceeds benefit local missions.

Sharon Hendricks

If you have a problem other readers might help solve or an idea that you’d like to share, write to Melba’s Swap Shop, Box 25125, Oklahoma City, OK 73125. Please include your name and address.