More Tomatoes ~ Oh my!

Ketchup requires 10 pounds of tomatoes - 3 batches made.  More to make later I hope.

I've been successful at getting the tomatoes cut and cooked down before the sun rises, but not through the sauce maker.  Early is best when canning with sauce anything.  This was a double batch of tomato paste (20 pounds).  That is one of my smaller sauce pans - 8 inches tall, and 10 inches in diameter.  That is what it looks like before it becomes.....

Making Homemade Ketchup with Home Canned Tomato Paste

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that the massive amounts of rain killed off our garden harvest.  I was able to can one batch of ketchup, which did not last long.

However, our previous garden year was absolutely wonderful, and I canned tomato paste for the first time.

Canning Ketchup ~ Black and Blue Cheese Butter with Whiskey

The bad news?

This is the last of the tomatoes that I picked the other day.

The good news? 

The "How to" on Home Canned Ketchup

This is how I make my ketchup.  

I do not peel my tomatoes because I use a sauce maker (you could also use a food mill).  Wash, trim and slice up 10 pounds of paste tomatoes.  I simply cut my paste tomatoes in 4th's and toss them in the pot.

Kitchen Madness

We finally got some rain.  It's back to humid and hot.  

I've been busy in the kitchen - freezing green peppers, jalapenos, more green beans, some tomatoes, and cauliflower.  Our popcorn is on, and looks pretty promising (although small), but my watermelon is questionable.

What else have I been up to?

Stocking Up

Well, if you have been wondering where I've been.....

I canned a second new recipe for salsa.  I canned 4 pints of Fiesta Salsa.  This is delicious too.  I found the recipe on-line.  In place of the chili pepper, I used green pepper, and used 1/2 cup combined jalapeno and cayenne peppers.  Yum!  There are many recipes on that site if you are seeking for recipes for canning or for other tomato recipes.

I canned another 3 1/2 quarts of seasoned tomato sauce.  This is tedious work - chopping 23 pounds of tomatoes.  Thanks to my sauce maker, I don't have to peel, remove seeds, etc. prior to heating it all up first.

I dehydrated another quart jar of potatoes, some kale and Parmesan cheese.

I canned 4 half pints of homemade ketchup.  This took another 10 lbs. of tomatoes.

I canned another 4 half pints of Pepper Jelly (a mix of green peppers jalapeno and cayenne peppers).

I finally dug up some of the sweet potatoes, but still have another row of red potatoes to dig up. 

I canned a third type of salsa - Home Canned Salsa.  I'd like to can peach salsa, but I need to see if I can still find peaches at the produce stands.  Our tree is not mature enough yet.

Oh....it continues.  I froze more tomatoes and green peppers too. 

Note:  I found this neat site that gives 30 tips on what to use leftover salsa for:  http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/03/serious-heat-what-to-do-with-leftover-salsa-30-uses.html