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!

Saving Seeds {Heirloom Tomato}

These days my kitchen is looking more like a science lab and less like a place to cook and eat. My windowsill and countertop is filled with seed saving experiments and random growing things. Here is a really easy and excellent fruitfly trap. Just a piece of computer paper rolled up in a vase with a piece of fruit and a little water. The fruit flies love it and if the paper at the top touches the sides of the vase they cant get out.
Also, there are some rocks from the kids and a lemon tree that we've been growing all summer now.
I've been saving the seeds of 3 tomato varieties this year- Amish Paste, Big Rainbow, and Beefsteak. All our seeds this year came from Baker Creek (rareseeds.com) and are heirloom, open pollinated, and non-gmo so they can be saved and will grow true to type next year.
Here's how to save tomato seeds- Scoop out the seeds and fleshy parts of the tomato insides into a mason jar- save the outer meaty parts for making sauce or to use in salads.When they are fresh, the seeds are covered in a slimy coating that makes it hard to pick them up. Fermentation will remove the seed coats. Cover with cheesecloth or (my preferred method) a coffee filter. Screw the metal band on. This way the fruit flies can't get into the jar. Put the jar in the window or on the counter or wherever. In a couple of days it will start looking kinda gross and there might be some white fuzzy stuff floating around in there. Add some water to the jar and swish it around and when it settles you'll notice that the seeds drop to the bottom. Carefully pour out the water and fleshy parts, keeping the seeds in the jar. You might have to refill with water and repeat a couple times to get everything out. strain the water out and pour the seeds on a piece of wax paper on a plate and let dry for a day or two. The seeds will be soft and fuzzy and you can put them in an envelope or clean dry jar, label it, and save them for next year! 

Homemade Peanut Butter

Making your own peanut butter is so easy and you know exactly what is in it. And it can be cheaper than buying the "all-natural" kind.

I get organic roasted peanuts at Nature's Pantry for about $2 a pound. I get a few pounds at a time. If you don't think you'll use all you get in a timely manner they freeze well. I fill my blender cup a little less than halfway. You don't have to add any oil because the peanuts will release their own oil as they mash up. It will take awhile. Your husband will come in the kitchen, peer in the blender and suggest its not going to work. But don't worry- it will! 

You can make it as crunchy or smooth as you like - the longer it blends, the smoother it gets. Then just scoop it out into a mason jar or into the empty peanut butter jar

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Did you know it is so easy to make your own vanilla? I have always bought the cheapest imitation stuff. My sister imports hers from Mexico. This is a better (than the first) and cheaper(than the second) option to either. It takes awhile, so start now!

You will need some vanilla beans and vodka and a dark jar with a lid or a clear jar with a lid and a place to hide it.

Take the beans and slit them lengthwise top to bottom on one side. Pour the vodka in the jar, add the beans, give it a shake and screw the lid on. Let it infuse in the dark at least 3 months, but 6-12 is better. (thats why you should start now) Then repeat with a new batch in a couple of weeks or months. When you begin using the vanilla, just add more vodka to the jar and shake it up. Thats it!

Hello Again

 A hearty sorry to my 2 followers out there for not posting this summer.

Our first year (so far) at gardening has gone really well. It's definitely been an ongoing lesson in patience, determination, and gentleness. Several times I've pulled up a viable plant along with the weeds. Jeremiah mowed over 1/6 of our sunflower patch because I hadn't marked the straggler flower well enough.

Not enough water, too much water. Blossom End Rot, splitting, aphids, powdery mildew, and weird insects I've never seen before have confused and frustrated me to no end some days.

But how much we have learned!

 How beautiful the Okra flowers are! And Serrano flowers look like tiny Spanish dancers.

Watching a bee do its dance with the big orange pumpkin flowers or the curly purple ones on the green beans is so exciting.

Our Jack-Be-Littles are spreading out and exploring the yard. The Amish Pies may have died as their vine stalk seems to have been chewed or stomped on by something. I poured in compost and bone meal and today it has a flower, so only time will tell. I planted a couple more just in case. Next year, I want to have a whole pumpkin patch.

Our green beans have been the funnest yet. Our pole beans took a long time to come in but they are huge. Its so fun hunting for the beans. I've been able to can 17 pints and 2 quarts so far, and given away lots more.

We've pulled probably 8-10 zucchini, much less than I thought we would have so far. I've been able to make 14 pints of pickles. Most of our tomatoes are still green, but getting bigger. Al Kuffa is the kind we've been getting consistently but they are small and most of them are splitting. I've been saving them in the freezer though to make into sauces later.

We hope to add some more of these soon.

More from our Garden

Here are some up close photos of our garden. It's been so rainy here lately the weeds are having a hayday.  I love going out first thing in the morning to see what is new and what has changed. It seems like they grow so much overnight. Its really magical.

We still have pie pumpkins, cucumbers, and zucchini to plant. And we are waiting on 1000 red wiggler worms to arrive and take up residence in our compost pile.

When we transplanted our tomatoes, they really looked like they were on their way out. We didn't think they would make it. We scooped out a hole for the root ball and threw in a handful of peat moss and a handful of crushed eggshells ( farm fresh, not store bought) and they look great now. The egg shells give them a boost of calcium from the roots up and they really needed it.We did the same in our strawberry plants too.

All in all, we have 6 raised beds, 20 pots, an onion bed, and a garlic bed.

we planted 5 okras but only 3 remain

our carrot hill

sugar snap peas

we just transplanted 11 strawberry plants

bush green beans

tango, red romaine, and mesclun mix lettuces

Some Thoughts of Being Normal

We are reading Joel Salatin's book, "Folks, This Ain't Normal" and I have to say, it's darn near life changing. The idea that most of us have no idea, and don't care,  where our food comes from is startling, and up until a couple of weeks ago, it didn't bother me at all- I never even thought about it. We are so removed from the agrarian society we used to be. We can run to the store ( and have a myriad of stores to choose from) for just any old thing we want. Shipped in from who-knows-where twice a week or more. There really is no such thing as "seasonal produce" anymore. Whatever we want, whenever we want. As long as we have the money to buy it, its ours. Instant gratification.
One day we hope to live out in the country, but right now we live in town and on the other side of our fence is a small chain store. Every day there are big trucks backing up to deliver dairy products, shelf-stable processed foods, toilietries, etc. Sometimes twice a day. Where is it all coming from? Who is making it all? And when was it made?
The New York Times published an article called The Extraordinary Science of Junkfood that I read recently. Its long but worth the read if you are interested in how food manufacturers produce and market their products. Its also kind of sickening because ultimately, their "food" is really just manufactured tastes and scents, pieces of this and that and chemicals to make us want more, and a pretty package. Which is where I'm torn. Because some of it does taste really good. But I can tell you, I will never feed my kids lunchables again.
Partly because of Joel's ideas and partly because of a class we took at church about re-training our bodies to eat differently, the way God intended us to eat (fresh vegetables and fruit, meats, nuts, etc. Not the processed, manufactured foods we are used to eating) we've been really reevaluating how we come by the food we eat. We've been growing our seedlings and putting in our raised beds. We've been getting fresh farm eggs locally, and next week we are going to get some local raw milk. We eat lots of salad now but are trying to stick with organic non-irradiated fruits and veggies. The HH's brother and his wife are starting a new life as farmers and we hope to be able to support them by buying chickens and whatever other kinds of meat they raise. They are big fans of Joel Salatin too.
 I never thought I would be one to choose the organic stuff or search out butter from cows that weren't given the growth hormones but it feels good knowing that for us, this is the better choice. I can only say what's best for my family, and I like having this sort of a relationship with or knowledge about what I'm feeding them.
You might notice I haven't posted any bread-related recipes lately (except the birthday cake) and that's because we no longer eat bread. Which is crazy I know. I used to eat bread all the live long day. But in our class we learned about how our bodies react to grains and carbs and it was all very sciency so I won't bore you. But there won't be too many bread type recipes here anymore sad to say. But I look forward to posting more to do with the fresh foods. It's kind of a challenge sometimes to make things myself instead of buying them but its also fun and I know the more I can lessen our dependence on the supermarket food supply, the better off we will be.