Ever since I was a little girl and was traumatized by my sister eating ketchup with a spoon it has not been my favorite condiment. I now eat it on my french fries but that is about it (which is better than when I boycotted it for fear of retching). Thankfully I have grown hard and crusty in my old age as ALL OF MY CHILDREN EAT KETCHUP LIKE AUNT MARY! Bleck! Oh yea and my husband...while wearing his Heinz ketchup shirt...
Anyway back to this post! As you can see we go through enough ketchup that I run out easily. SO the perfect storm of canning season, a shared ketchup recipe, and a good friend inviting us to the farm to pick tomatoes at .50 cents a pound lead to the CRAZY idea of, "lets make ketchup and can it!!!"!
Picking was a great day, I almost moved to the farm...
I haven't found my kitchen scale so we made due...
Tomatoes, green bell peppers, & onion chopped (all from local Nevada growers)!
Spice bag made...
Simmered and run through the food mill! This food mill was my grandma's, I think I have used it more than she did and let me tell you I would have never guessed that when I inherited it!
SMOOTH....
And then I started cooking it down....
And down....
Until finally! We have ketchup! We celebrated by having tater-tots for lunch... and then we started another batch...Yes we are crazy...
OMGosh I totes know someone who tried to make their own ketchup and actually went insane. She is now in the looney bin. I am relieved that you managed to pull this off without incident. (though I have to admit I am left with concerns...) Love, Lisa
ReplyDeleteAfter the fist batch I was sure that was the last time... but then Dan spear headed the second batch with minimal need of help so that made the ketchup endevor more appealing! ;)
ReplyDeleteLook at you! I am SO proud of you. Canning must run in the genes. I made BBQ sauce last year and love it so I can believe that homemade ketchup is good. Nathan won't let me try it.
ReplyDeleteDanna- I'm having fun staying up past 10 reading your blog!!! Admittedly, I am a little obsessed with the homemade ketchup (which just may be a sign of insanity). Thanks for the GREAT idea.
ReplyDeleteEmily! Glad you found this crazy corner of mine! Blogs suck me in too..
ReplyDeleteThanks for the fun picking idea!! ;)