For the second year in a row, where my house smells overwhelmingly like tomatoes and my kitchen is stacked with bushels boxes! With help from my husband (read about the dangers of canning alone here), I've managed to "put up" two bushels of tomatoes in the form of sauce, and I've got to say, it's much yummier than last year! If you're like me and eccentric enough to take up the bizarre endeavour, then you probably want to check out the Bernardin website for the basic idea of canning and some recipes. I used their basic procedure for tomato sauce. You don't want to add any oils or fresh veggies since it alters the pH and apparently that can allow botulism to grow and potentially kill you and yours.
Last year, inspired by Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle book, I used her recipe for Family Secret Tomato Sauce. However, I didn't seed or peel. I admit, that haste does indeed make waste, and the sauce was too bitter. I also wasn't crazy about the hint of cinnamon and nutmeg and the huge amount of basil (Sorry Barbara!). This year, I bit the bullet and did the seeding. Much tastier! However, I did add (without measuring, just to taste...):
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 tbsp of garlic powder
2 tbsp of dried basil
2 tbsp of dried oregano
2 tbsp of ground pepper
2 tbsp of sea salt
(***don't forget 2 tbsp of lemon juice PER 1L jar to maintain acidity***)
Boiled down for about 2-3 hours to make a moderately thick sauce. Divine!
Tomorrow is the big day, TomatoFest 2011, my now annual canning party. We've got 5 women and 7 bushels of tomatoes. The plan is to make diced tomatoes and whole canned tomatoes. Hopefully we get it done before the wine takes effect!
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