Saucy!

Yes this is going to be another pizza post! But don't worry it's  not the same ol' pizza. In fact it's the sauce! I'm sharing just how I make that yummy pizza sauce myself.  Three years ago we started a garden for the first time.  I decided I needed 10 tomato plants. Why? I have no idea since I'm the only one in the Bacon house that actually EATS tomatoes!  We had so many tomatoes that year they were coming out of our ears.  I had to figure out something to do with all of them.  A friend gave me an amazing salsa recipe that I quickly made up.  But there were still tomatoes everywhere.  And of course I'm the only one who eats salsa too, so there was no sense in making more of that.  What to do, what to do? I decided to try my hand at pizza sauce.  It was something I knew we all would eat, and we were making more and more homemade pizzas so why not the sauce?

I found a recipe in the Ball canning book and tried it.  Once I got everything in it, I sampled some and it was less than great.  So I started digging though my spice cabinet.  I toss in a little of this and some of that.  And what turned out was amazing pizza sauce!  And thankfully I wrote down what and how much I was tossing in when I did.  This is now the third year of making pizza sauce and we are addicted.  I like that it's not a heavy thick pizza sauce like the cans you buy at the store. Its' actually a mild and slightly sweet sauce.

I know for some canning can seem like a scary process.  It's actually really easy once you get the hang of it and the end results will last you all year and really save you money.   So lets get started!


First you need to gather your supplies.  One batch usually makes 8-9 pint size jars for me.

8-9 pint canning jars and rings
New lids
Canning supplies like funnel, ladle, jar lifter, lid lifter, and air bubble remover.
Canning pot
1 other larger pot to make the sauce in
food processor or blender
2-3 larger bowls for holding tomatoes

 Next you need your recipe:

Ma Bacon's Homemade Pizza Sauce

18 cups tomato puree

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp Italian seasoning

1tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

2 tbsp garlic powder

4 tsp salt

4 tsp pepper

1 cup bottled lemon juice

Optional:

1/2 cup diced onions

2 tsp chopped garlic

oil for cooking

Lets get started!
This year I had a lot of extra green onions growing in the garden. I decided to use some up in the sauce recipe.  One thing I love about this recipe is you can change it to how you like it.  If you think it needs more of something or less, it's up to you.

I diced up my green onions and added 2 tsp chopped garlic to a pan along with 1 tbsp oil.  I sauteed this just until they started to brown. 

Then I tossed them in my pot that the sauce will go in.
Next it's time to get the tomatoes ready.  Toss your tomatoes in the sink and wash them.  Little Miss Bacon was happy to help with the kitchen sprayer to do this job.  To get 18 cups of puree, I used 3 over-full ice cream pails of tomatoes. I also use at least 2 different kinds of tomatoes when I make sauce. I think this helps give it a better flavor.  But you can use what ever you have on hand. This year I actually used four different kinds because that 's what I planted, Roma, Viva italia, Golden girl (yellow) and cherry tomatoes.

Once you have clean tomatoes, cut off the stem. I do all the big tomatoes at once and pile them into bowls. Don't worry about the cherry tomatoes if you are using them, we'll get to those later. For now you just need to wash them, pick off the stem and set them aside.

Now it's time to remove their skins.  To do this, I use the same method I do to take the skins off of peaches that I described here.  Heat up a pot of water until boiling.  Place a few tomatoes in at a time - I usually do 8-10 depending on their size.  Let them cook in the hot water for about 30 seconds.

Take them out of the boiling water and place them in a sink full of ice cold water.  Toss some ice cubes in to make sure it's nice and cold.  And then watch the magic!  The peels will just about fall off the tomatoes. 

Let them sit in the cold water for a few minutes and then with your hands peel the rest of the skins off.  Place them in a colander that is over a bucket or another bowl so the liquid can drain out of the tomatoes.  I give them a squeeze too to help drain out all the juices. 

After they have drained for a few minutes I place them in another bowl so I can make room for more tomatoes to drain.  You will notice that when they sit in the bowl they will drain out more juice. Can you see it along the edge of my bowl?  Once I have all the tomatoes skined, it's time to do one more final drain to get rid of as much liquid as I can.

Now it's time to break out the food processor! I use the bottom chopping blade in my food processor for this, not the slicing/grating blade.  Toss your tomatoes a few at a time inside and pulse them until they turn into a puree.  Repeat until all those tomatoes are done.  Now I bet you're wondering what I did with those cherry tomatoes right? No? You forgot about them.  Don't worry I almost did too! 

Here they are still sitting in my sink.  And you're wondering how on earth are you going to get the skins off those.  I don't bother. Nope, I toss them in the processor whole and blend away.  The skins blend up and you don't even notice them.  Yes you can skip skinning all of the tomatoes if you'd like.  But if you do it for too many they won't break down and you'll taste them in the sauce. 

Once you have all the tomatoes pureed place it in your large pot.  Now it's time to add all the rest of the ingredients.  Feel free to sample it as you add stuff to see if you want more of something. 

Allow it to simmer on the stove over medium heat for 2 or so hours.  The sauce should reduce by at least a 1/3 and start to thicken up.  This won't be a super thick sauce.  If you are hoping for thicker sauce, feel free to add a can of tomato paste to it.  I actually don't mind the thinner sauce. A good way to see how think the sauce will be is take some in a spoon or ladle and let it sit and cool on the counter.  It will thicken up and you can tell if it's how you like it.

While the sauce is cooking down and making the house smell amazing, it's a good time to get those jars ready if you haven't done so already.  Wash them up and let them sit in a sink full of hot water, make sure to fill each jar with hot water too so they are ready for your sauce.  Pouring hot liquids into cold glass can break them.  Take my word for it, it's not a pretty mess to clean up! 

Once your sauce is ready, it's time to can it. Take a jar and ladle sauce into it until it's about 1/2 in from the top of the jar. 

Take your air bubble stick and run it along the inside of the jar quick and don't forget to wipe the rim clean when you're done.

Now it's time to take one of the new lids out of the warm water it's been sitting in and top the jar with it. Remember the lids need to sit in a hot water bath before they are placed on the jars to help the seal better.  Use the fun lid lifter for this, it saves you from burnt fingers!  Secure the lids with a ring and they are ready to go.

 

Keep going until all the jars are full!  Then it's time for their bath!

I have mine all ready to go in the boiling water in the caning pot. My canning pot came with this nice rack that has handles so I can easily get the jars in and out.  If yours didn't come with one, use the jar lifter to help get them in and out of the pot. 

Make sure once they are in the water bath that the tops are covered with at least an inch of water over the top of them.  Boil the jars for 35 minutes for pint jars.  Once time is up, remove them and let them cool on a hot pad until cool.  This is the point that I like to savor the 'PING' sounds of the lids sealing!

The next morning I unscrew the lid and gently press my finger against the lid to make sure lid did in fact seat.  Make sure you label your yummy sauce too!  You can see from my picture here that it is a bit runnier that what most think.  Don't worry it will still taste amazing!  Now it's time to make some crust and enjoy!

It's harvest time!

 Yes it's that time of year again.  Our garden was overflowing and our friends generosity was too!  I received a message from a friend asking if we wanted some fresh sweet corn for free! You know we couldn't refuse that!  I was surprised when 52 ears of corn arrived on my door step, but welcomed everyone of them.  We set aside a few for dinner that night, but the rest had to go somewhere.  And the best place for it was in my freezer.  Veggies are very easy to prepare and freeze to enjoy all year long.  First take your corn and remove the husk.  Thanks to Mr. Bacon and some all too anxious to help Bacon kids this job was a breeze.



Then you need to clear some space.  Which requires me to move the fresh made danish puff that was cooling. Yes it looks yummy right?  I promise I'll post the recipe soon, it was handed down from Grandma Bacon.  

 

 Now that there is some space, take your corn and and give it a good brushing. Yes you read that right. Brush your corn.  You know all those silky hairs that get stuck in there, they don't taste all that well, so it's best to remove them now. I just take a bottle brush I use for cleaning fruit and veggies. 

Now get some water boiling.  Since we had so many cobs of corn and were a bit pressed for time this day I got two large kettles going.  Once the water is boiling, drop in a few ears of corn.  Be sure to not overcrowd the corn in the pots. I place four to six ears in each pot.  Once you put them in you want the water to return to a boil within a minute. If it doesn't boil again, you have too many in the pot.  I boiled the corn for about nine minutes. 

Once the corn is boiled, you want to let them cool in a cold water bath. Place some water and ice in your sink. Allow the corn to soak in the cold water bath for 5-10 minutes.

Now it's time to cut the corn off the cob.   I have to say I LOVE corn on the cob. I wait all winter long just to be able to bite into a cob in the summer.  However I have found through the wonderful world of internet that if you freeze the corn on the cob, when you re-heat it most times than not it turns to mush.  So we decided not to risk it and cut the corn off.  A little trick I picked up for cutting corn off the cob was a angel food pan! 

See how nice it works!  Thanks to Mr. Bacon for making sure I didn't cut my fingers off, he did all the dirty work!  Place the cob of corn over the hole in the middle of the pan and cut away, the kernels fall into the pan and not all over the counter.  A bundt pan would also work well.

 Piles of delicious corn!  It was amazing. I think we at 2 or 3 cobs of corn right as it was cut off. Even Little Miss Bacon my picky eater was sneaking some every time I turned my back!  It was nice to see her want to eat a vegetable on her own!   I placed a good meal size portion of the cut corn into our food saver bags and placed them in the freezer unsealed over night.  By doing this it froze up the liquid still in the corn.  The next morning I sealed the bags and tossed them back into the freezer.  I can't wait to pull a bag out in the middle of winter and enjoy fresh sweet corn!

Ping... ping.. ping

  Ahhh.... I love that sound. It makes me smile.  Why?  Because it means I've once again had a successful canning session.  This time it was peaches.  Lots and lots of peaches! I hit a great sale on them and I decided to make a lot of work for myself.  How much work? About 35 pounds worth! But it is worth every minute to have delicious cheap peaches all year long.  My favorite way to eat them, with cottage cheese! YUM. Yes this is another one of what my family would call 'odd' foods I eat.  All our kids enjoy them right out of the jar but their favorite part is the juice!  They can't wait until we empty another jar of peaches so they can drink the juice that is left in it!  So you want to make your own delicious peaches to enjoy all year long?  But you're afraid of canning? It can seem challenging, a lot like working with yeast.  But I will tell you it's not that painful, it's actually easy!  And once you get the hang of it, you'll enjoy it so much you'll start looking around for what else you can cram into glass jars and seal for another day!

So where to start, first you need some supplies.  Canning jars are one.  Back when Mr. Bacon and I decided to venture into canning, we needed to find jars, for cheap.  Looking at buying them at the store seemed like a budget burden at the time. Really it's not that bad, you can get a dozen jars for under $10 usually, but I had to search for a cheaper way.  And I found one!  Word of mouth works wonders. We let both our parents and several friends and family know we were looking for jars and they poured in. It seems there are many older people with boxes of these sitting in dusty basements just waiting for a new life.  We still get asked if we are looking for more jars (and I never turn them down!). Take your jars and make sure they are nice and squeaky clean (the rings too).  I place mine in the dishwasher and run a quick cycle. 

A few other things you need are:
Rings
Lids- always use new!
Canning tool kit
Large pot- one or two
A ladle
A few hot pads
some patience
several larger bowls and a few smaller ones
and a nice clean sink

Oh and don't forget your peaches!  Here are mine waiting to jump in the jars.   There are a few things to do to them first though.  

 Dump them in your sink and wash them.  This should be a pretty easy step! I just spray them with the water sprayer.  

Next it's time to get the skins off of them. OH don't forget to take all the stickers off too. This is a great job for the kids to do.  It will keep them in on spot for a while too!  While you are doing this, take one of your large pots ( I think mine are 8 quart size. I bought two pots a while ago just for canning) and fill it half full with water and bring it to a boil.  Place your clean, sticker free peaches in a bowl.  Dig out your favorite ladle too. Mine is a metal slotted one that was my Grandmas!  Now that you have your ladle, fill up one sink with cold water.  If you have some extra ice laying around toss that in as well!  You'll need it in a minute. 

Once your water is boiling, place your peaches in the pot for about 30 seconds.  They don't need too long in their bath.

 After the 30 seconds in the boiling water, ladle out the peaches and place them in the ice cold water bath and let them rest for a minute or two.  Magic happens then!  The peels will magically peel off.  Most will start on their own, just keep peeling and the whole skin should come off easy.  Here's a tip, this also works with removing tomato skins for things like salsa and sauces! Yes I can those too!

Once the peel is off, take a knife and slice them in half or smaller slices if you prefer.  I can mine in half because it's just less work!  Take the pit and toss it.  But save those skins you just peeled off, I have another recipe in store for those in another post!

Keep boiling, peeling and slicing until you have all your peaches done. Yes this is the long part of the process.  It pays off in winter when you are enjoying your own canned peaches with out all the other stuff they put in them in the stores.  While I slice my peaches I stop every now and then to add a bit of Fruit fresh to them, I don't measure (Mr. Bacon can add a big rant on how I measure I'm sure! That is why I don't let him on here!)  You can find Fruit fresh at many stores and it's usually right in the caning area.  If you don't have fruit fresh or don't want to buy it you can also pour some lemon juice over the peaches.  Mix either of these around the peaches a bit. I'm not shy and just use my hands for that.  But the reason to use one of these is to help keep the peaches looking nice and bright and orange after the caning process is done.  Nope you don't need to do this step if you don't want to.  Just beware that the peaches can take a brown color to them after a few months sitting in the jars.  It doesn't harm them at all. I didn't do this step the first year I canned peaches and I had some kids question what exactly they were eating that winter!

So now all the peaches are cut up, time to get the juice going.  There are several types of juice you can place the peaches in.  Some healthier than others, and some tastier. It's up to you.  For us, I always use very light syrup to can the peaches in.  This is done by placing 6 cups water and 1.5 cups sugar in a large pot (8 quart again). For this many peaches I had to do a double batch of syrup.

If you'd like little heavier syrup you can do 6 cups water to 2.5-3 cups sugar or even heavier syrup 6 cups water to 4 cups sugar.  You can also use things like splenda or fruit juice to can the peaches in.  I haven't tried that yet.  If you'd like to I've linked to my favorite canning site here.   While you are waiting for the water and sugar to dissolve and boil, take another small pot and warm up some water in there. This will be for your lids.  The canning lids need to be warmed up a bit to help them seal well.  I keep a pot on low with my lids in it so they are ready to go when I am.  If you'd like you can also microwave a bowl of water for a few minutes, and then add the lids to it when it comes out. Just make sure your water doesn't cool while you wait. 

Once the sugar has dissolved in the water it's time to add the peaches. I let them rest together for about five minutes.  Now it's time to pack the jars! Take a clean jar and place the funnel that came in your canning tool kit on top.  Oh I forgot to talk about the tool kit.  These are wonderful tools that make caning SO much easier.  Trust me, I tired to get away without them the first year I canned, it was a mistake. So for the next year I picked one up. They can be found with all the canning supplies at almost every store. They look like the one here.   So now you have your jar and funnel it's time to fill them. I use a large plastic ladle (with out slots) for this job.  I start by placing the peaches from the sugar solution into the jar.  Fruit shrinks when it's stored in liquid so don't be afraid to cram them in nice and tight.  Then ladle in the syrup until you are about 1/2 inch from the top of the jar.  Next take the plastic scraper tool and insert it along the side of the jar.  This helps any little air bubbles escape before you can. If you don't do this step the air trapped in there could still turn your fruit brown.  It's better on the outside!

All the airs out and now it's time for the lid and ring!  Take a clean wet washcloth and wipe the rim of the jar to make sure there isn't anything on it.  Then take the lid grabber and pick up a lid from your hot water. One thing to remember, is always use new lids.  You can reuse your rings from one canning session to another, but lids that have been water bath canned and processed are a one time use only.  So when you open a jar to eat and empty it, make sure to toss the lid in the trash and just save the jar and ring for next time. 

Place it on top of your jar and secure it with a ring.  Make sure they are nice and snug on there.
Now it's time for their water bath again.  I have a large water canning pot for this thanks to a wonderful family friend who was no longer caning.  Again you can pick one of these up in the canning section of your store. Or if you have a very large pot like this around your house, it will work just fine too!

Place your jars in the water bath until they are completely covered with boiling water.  The best way to get them in the water is with the jar grabber that came in that tool kit. See really for the few dollars it cost, it will probably save you a trip to the ER!  For Quart jars of peaches, place in the water bath and cover with the lid for 25 minutes.  If you are using pint jars, they only need 20 minutes.  *Please note that if you live in different altitudes you will have to adjust your cooking times like you do for other cooking.*

After I take them out of the water bath I let them sit on hot pads to cool.  This is when you'll hear the fun 'PING'!  Oh it's joy to my ears because it means that the lid has sealed on my jars. Sometimes I'll sit and count them just to make sure they've all sealed.  Yes I live an exciting life!

The next day you need to double check the seal of the jars. To do that, remove the ring and take your finger and push up on the lid a bit. You don't need to use superman (or woman!) force to do this, just a little pressure.  If the lid doesn't pop off, success!  You can either store them this way or with the ring back on.  There you have it!  Canned peaches to enjoy for months to come for pennies!  It really does save you money.  And it's not as hard of a process as it seems.  Go ahead and give it a try!