Tomatoes

We had a wonderful tomato-growing season with several bushels produced at the ready for our use.  The tomatoes were of high quality with few blemishes or insect damage.










We made 40+ quarts of stewed tomatoes.  They make a very good addition to a winter meal, either as a stand-alone or as an ingredient in other entrees such as chili.















The second picking included lots of Italian roma tomatoes along with the other large and small varieties.  These baskets plus four more already on hand provided an ample supply for making spaghetti sauce.
















The first step in sauce making is to clean and cook the produce in our two large pots.  Celery, green peppers, hot peppers, onions and garlic are added.  Several pecks of tomatoes are compressed and used in this step.













A nice fall day made the outside filtering a pleasant task.  (The "squeezo" machine removes the tomato skins and seeds.)  This type of unskilled labor fits Bill's profile, and he is quite good at it!












The sauce is then cooked down to thicken, spices are added, and the colorful final result is bottled.

Twenty minutes in a boiling-water bath seals the lids, and our 25+ quarts are stored away.  A lot of work -- but we know exactly what went into the recipe and will enjoy the results all year long!