Today was busy, from start to finish. I barely had time to take any pictures, but I did get a few... including this one of Yehoshua helping us husk corn for lunch! He loves learning about the different foods from the garden, and doesn't remember much from last year. :) And both Yehoshua and Eliyahu love eating corn on the cob!! :)
My mom came over this morning and we made pizza sauce [0] together. Since making pizza sauce is such a huge (all-day) job, we got started right away with washing and coreing the tomatoes.
Here are the big pans of tomatoes as they cook. These pans belong to my mom -- the only large pot I have is a porcelain-enamel canner (it's huge -- holds 9 quarts or 14 pints) which is only for canning, and not for cooking food. (I got it at a garage sale before we were married.)
The tomatoes have to be brought to a boil and then cooked for at least an hour. Then they're ready to be drained and run through the colander.
Yehoshua was excited about getting to help with that part!
My mom left about 3pm to head back home, and at that point we had all of the tomatoes made into sauce and the chopped bell peppers, onions, and garlic (all from the garden, as well!) were cooking. I had to add seasonings, thicken the sauce, and start filling jars. We ended up with 33 pints! That will definitely last us another year. :)
After the jars were filled, I canned them in a boiling water bath. I had to do three different batches, and the last jars just came out. So far, it looks like they've all sealed... though I'll check again in the morning. :)
So, that was my day! I could never had done it if Eliyahu hadn't taken a 2.5-hour nap in the afternoon, and my mom hadn't come over to help. :) By the way, here are the pictures from last year's tomato-day [0]! I can't believe how different Eliyahu looks!! :)