Dean Martin in a bottle

Bottling a serious business in this house.  I'm not the bottler, just the chief cook and bottle washer as the saying goes.  As pear season arrives into view my head preserver has been busy doing the peeling and poking of star anise, vanilla bean or just getting them plastered with Pinot.  Now we have to just look and admire.  Our preserving shelves are now laden with assorted fruits from the summer, as well as rhubarb, cherries and just about anything else we can jam into a jar.  These will get us through the winter.  Well that's the theory.  Except gaining authorisation to open a jar of preserves is like getting access to the Crown Jewells.  The look of horror on his face when I suggest we break open a seal!!  And whilst I've contributed to, ahem, not much of the process I did play an integral part of the tomato bottling operations.  Our tomato vines were literally throwing tomatoes at us as we walked past so we were pleased to grow sufficient amounts to bottle.  In true Italian tradition we donned our aprons in the outdoor produce room, fired up the record player with Dean Martin, and off we went a skinning and a chopping.  It's a messy job but well worth it considering the quantities of tinned tomatoes I usually buy over the winter.  And who knows what processing elements go into canned produce these days, and yes I'm well aware that the tins aren't made of tin anymore, but what chemicals are in the lining?  So I'm looking forward to a winter of shopping at my own produce store, even if the store keeper is a bit reluctant to share his wares.  Because before too long the winter season has flown by into the next one, and the blossoms will soon be with us.  Volare, oh, oh!   Cantare oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!