I don’t know how our ancestors did it…. I decided one day last week that I wanted to can homemade spaghetti sauce and chili sauce. I was able to find a good deal on tomatoes and I convinced my Mom to help. When I was younger, growing up in Springville, my Mom canned everything. Dad always had a large, plentiful garden and my Mom took those home grown veggies and made food for our family that would usually last most of the Winter. Maybe I was trying to capture some nostalgia from my childhood or maybe I was trying to be domestic and prove that I can provide for my family and not rely on eating out all the time. I think I captured both of those things but mostly I think I was a little off my rocker when I planned this little adventure.
We had planned to make our preserves on Saturday but the tomatoes weren’t ripe enough, so instead we got to do it on a Tuesday night…a “school” night, a “work” night, a “you need to get to bed early” night. Whatever, I’m woman - hear me roar!
Let me give you the run down:
- 75 lbs of Tomatoes
- 10 large Green Peppers
- 15 large onions
- An entire bag of Costco sized garlic cloves
- Spices and more spices
- 24 Quart Kerr Jars
- 32 Pint Kerr Jars
- 7 hours of preparing and cooking (remember, a Tuesday NIGHT)
- A huge mess in the kitchen, every pan in the house is dirty
- Tomato remains
everywhere - 2 extra trips to the store for items we forgot or ran out of
- 1 phone call to a neighbor to borrow Worcestershire Sauce
- Countless Diet
Cokes - An episode of Glee, Dancing with the Stars, No Ordinary Family, Brothers & Sisters and Oprah
- Exhaustion
- Success!
Needless to say, I have a much greater appreciation for all the time my Mom and my Grandmothers spent in the kitchen every fall. Sure, it was a lot of work but I really enjoyed spending the night with my Mom, making yummy things we will enjoy for months to come. Here is some of our finished product and a picture of the time I left Mom’s house, as in AM…
