Homemade Ketchup

Confession: I bought 200 pounds of tomatoes the other day.

But it's ok because I had a plan. I mean what crazy person goes and buys 8 boxes of tomatoes without a plan? Not me. Nope. Certainly not.

Ok, I had a plan for about 1/3 of them.

I also bought 10 dozen eggs and 4 pie pumpkins.

We ate alot of sandwiches that week.

And didn't do a whole lot else.

Some people thought we were a little cuckoo but now I have a pantry full of yummy homemade goodies that will last a long (long) time.

Tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, salsa, hot sauce, barbeque sauce, and ketchup.

Why make ketchup when its so cheap at the store, you ask?

Doesn't it take a long time?

Yes, yes it does. But- No corn syrup! No high fructose corn syrup! No "natural and artificial flavorings"! And a lot less salt than commercial ketchup.

Here is the recipe I used, from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I tried it out on my 5 year old- the one who can eat her weight in the stuff so she's kind of the resident expert, and although she was hesitant to try something mommy made herself, she was surprised and happy that it tasted just like the stuff in the fridge.

Makes about 7 pint jars...

3 tbs celery seeds

4 tsp whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces

1 1/2 tsp allspice

3c cider vinegar

24 lbs tomatoes, cored and quartered

3c chopped onions

1 tsp cayenne pepper

11/2c sugar

1/4c pickling or canning salt

1. Tie spices in a spice bag

2. In a stainless steel pot, combine vinegar and spice bag. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and let stand about 25 min. Discard spice bag.

3. Meanwhile, in another stainless steel pot, combine tomatoes, onions, and cayenne. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and boil gently 20 minutes. Add infused vinegar and boil gently until vegetables are soft and mixture begins to thicken.

4.Working in batches, transfer mixture to a food mill and discard solids.

5. Return liguid to sauce pan. Add sugar and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently until volume is reduced by half and mixture has the consistency of commercial ketchup.

6.Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars, and lids.

7. Ladle hot ketchup into hot jars, leaving 1/2 in headspace. Remove air bubbles and wipe rims. Center lid on jar, screw bands on fingertip-tight.

8.Place jars in canner making sure they are completely covered with water by about 2 inches. Water bath for 15 minutes. Remove lid, wait 5 minutes and remove jars. Let them sit at least 12 hours before moving them. You can remove the bands before storing. Make sure all lids have sealed by pressing down the middle of the lid- if it doesn't flex up and down its sealed! I usually lift the jar by the lid also just as a secondary measure to make sure its sealed. Store in a cool darkish place.

And in case you're wondering about the eggs-

We go through alot of eggs for eating and baking, so some we used up, but most of them I broke individually into little plastic cups, scrambled a bit and froze to use later because our egg lady is out and we like our farm fresh eggs!