by Dolores Alfieri

And then late August comes, full of its heat and humidity, and we know it's time to pull out the wide steel drums, the plastic crates stacked full of clean Mason jars, the old bed sheets and blankets, and the comically large wooden spoons, because it's time to jar the tomatoes. Clear your schedule for the day, and come on over. We're starting at 6 am, and we won't be done until the late afternoon. It's a lot of work, a lot of sweat, a lot of lifting and stirring, boiling and hot glass, but for some reason, even still, you want to be there....

Of the many traditions I was fortunate to grow up with, the jarring of tomatoes remains the most dear, not just to me, but to many of the Italian Americans I know, including my cousins, siblings, and even the next generation of nieces and nephews. Italian Americans have never been afraid of hard work, but the fact that this particular work is something everyone actually looks forward to is revealing: It's the ardor for community and la famiglia that makes it so.

Read more

Source: http://italianamericanpodcast.com/