Drunk as a skunk

When I’m canning tomatoes I find that I have a lot of tomato juice as a by-product of seeding the tomatoes. 

Waste not want not . . . and I love bloody mary’s.  :)

So, I canned it. 

Tomato juice contains vitamins A and C as well as the antioxidant Lycopene, making it a healthy beverage.

I simply strain the juice to remove any seeds and pour the juice into a large pot.  Then bring the juice to a boil, stirring.  And then reduce the heat to boil gently for 5 minutes.

You can add whatever seasonings you like – salt, pepper, etc.  I added a couple dashes of hot sauce to the mix for a little kick.

You can chill the juice and store in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Or, you can pour the hot juice into pre-sterilized canning jars and process for 20 minutes in a hot water bath.

Uses for tomato juice:

• In Canada and Mexico, tomato juice is popular mixed with beer, the concoction is known in Canada as Calgary Red-Eye and in Mexico as Cerveza preparada. 

• Tomato juice is the base for the cocktails Bloody Mary and Bloody Caesar. 

• Apart from the obvious use as a beverage, tomato juice's mild acidity means that it can be used to clean up old coins or metal saucepans in much the same way as other acidic substances such as Coca Cola are used. 

• Tomato juice is frequently used as a packing liquid for canned tomatoes. 

• Helps remove chlorine stains from naturally blond hair. Saturate hair with undiluted tomato juice or ketchup, leave on for 10 to 15 minutes, rinse and shampoo
  

• The juice is also thought to be an effective cleaning agent against skunk musk. 

• Tomato juice contains fructose, which helps the body metabolize alcohol and prevent some of the more severe hangover symptoms.
  

Where does the phrase "drunk as a skunk" come from? Do they stagger around, hit on all the girl skunks and spray things randomly while yelling, "Woo hoo!"? Or perhaps it's just because it rhymes. 

Oh my, how I digress!