Tomatoes

 My Grandma and Grandpa had TONS of extra tomatoes this year and I was blessed to acquire them. I may have been a little crazy to take on such a project, having never used a pressure canner in my life, but I made the decision and dove in!
I started in the shallow end with Freezer Spaghetti sauce.

 I was also making dinner, so I went ahead and started some ground beef.

 Look at these beauties! Apparently Roma or "paste" tomatoes are the best for canned sauces as they have less juice.

 I didn't have to skin them for this recipe which was nice. But oh the chopping!

And then more chopping!

 Sauteed the onions and celery. It called for bell peppers but I didn't have any, so went with the celery I had.

 All the tomatoes with spices in the crock pot.

Then add the onions and you have a very full crock pot!

It cooked for a few hours and then I let it cool, and finally filled a few freezer bags with it. When I decide to use it, I will need only to add a can of tomato paste and it's ready to go!

While I was at it, I made some really yummy beef and tomato soup.

 Adding cream of chicken soup just makes for all kinds of creamy goodness. :)




On to bottling! 
So I started the bottling yesterday in the late morning. 

 The onions I had were pretty powerful. It was a tear filled adventure! Even with the mini chopper helping..

 Boiling the tomatoes.

 Followed by an ice bath.

 The skinned and chopped tomatoes with anaheim peppers and assorted spices.

 James scooping the mix into the blender.

 The brew had to cook for an hour, being stirred often.

 We heated the bottles. Who knew there were so many steps?!?!

 Then James poured the sauce into the jars and I wiped and sealed them.

 We loaded the pressure canner.

 And it started steaming.

 I admit I was nervous to put the cap on, but I took a deep breath and went for it! Turns out its not that big of a deal. :)

  They processed for an hour. Here is the fruit of our labors. :) Tomorrow we will make chunky salsa. :)