You say Tomato ...

I have 9 quarts of tomato sauce sitting on my kitchen table right now. NINE QUARTS! It may not seem like a whole lot, but since it took the whole day to fill those nine quart jars, I think it's a lot.

My mother in law makes the most wonderful tomato sauce and generously gave us a few jars for Christmas. I now see how valuable those were! In any case, her sauce is the only kind that Zack will eat. So, this year I figured I'd try making some. I have been carefully and diligently tending our six tomato plants all summer. And although they have more than a hundred tomatoes on them, only one or two ripen at a time. So, while there is enough for taco salads, there is never enough to make even one jar of sauce.

We finally broke down and bought a half bushel of tomatoes. And a Victorian Strainer - which is a blessing since you don't have to cook the tomatoes before straining them. The big issue was that after straining, you have to cook them for three hours minimum, stirring every few minutes and adding things each hour - and of course each of those items takes plenty of time to prepare! Needless to say, I was exhausted after all that!

I hit a few hiccups on the way, but I think that next time I'll know better what to do and how to handle it. Yes, I did say next time! I'm considering doing this for at least one more day before I feel finished for the year. We go through tomato sauce like crazy in our house and nine jars just seems pitiful to me. So, I venture on. One more day of tomatoes ... and then apple season will begin!

Yum ... applesauce.