Canning Fool!

Okay so who loves to can? I love being able to put up some food to keep on my shelves. I feel so domestic while doing it, and I love looking at it. Sitting there so pretty making my pantry full. So here is my latest...spaghetti sauce! I tried this recipe for the first time and it's pretty good. I'm in search of a really mouth watering mmmm kind of recipe so I'll try another one maybe in a few weeks. Here's how I did it.


I filled the sink halfway with as hot of water as I could get from the tap. Added tomatoes. Then poured 2 big pots full of boiling water over them. Then I let them sit while I prepared the other ingredients. After I prepared all the other ingredients, I pulled the skins off the tomatoes which at this point come off easily.


I added water to a small pot and boiled my jar lids slowly.


I added about 2 carrots, 1 large zucchini, 2 onions, about 3/4 cup brown sugar, 2-3 cloves minced garlic, and two blenders full of pureed fresh tomatoes. I added some shakes of Italian Seasoning with a heavy hand. This barely fits in a large pot. (If using a true stockpot you could double this to fill it.)


I chopped everything except the tomatoes with this wonderful little gadget. I got it at Target for maybe $15 and LOVE IT! Chopping time is cut by at least half!


I cooked the sauce on med/hi for at least 45 minutes, boiling. Make sure to stir it consistently. While the sauce cooked, I prepped the jars with 2 TBs lemon juice each.

Then I poured the sauce into my quart jars, wiped the rim completely with a hot rag, added a boiled jar lid, tightened a ring onto the jar, then stuck them into my waterbath canning pot. Once the water is boiling in this pot, (water was being brought to a boil in it all during the prep work) I set the timer and let the water bath boil steady for 30 minutes. I know the jars are sealed once out of the pot by pressing my finger in the center of the lid...if it flexes back it's not sealed. If it's tight and doesn't move or pop then it's sealed. Wah-la!