Shopping Day ~ Black Bean and Corn Salsa

Saturday was a big shopping day.  We hit four stores to restock dog food, salt for the softener tank, organic meats, and so forth.  We had to make one stop for a new printer too.  We had the trunk filled, our stomachs were empty and screaming for dinner.

Thankfully, before we left, I filled the crock pot.  It's my healthier version of Pasta e Fagoli.  I make this with whatever I have, and it always tastes good.  Some years I use tomato sauce and paste, with extra broth, but this time I used some tomato basil soup and paste.  The combination was delicious.  I just had to boil the penne noodles and add them when I got home.

Barbecue Sauce ~ Gutting the Garden

The first year I canned BBQ sauce was 2 years ago when we had a bumper tomato crop.  It was the ball canning recipe.

We did not like the taste.  Just something about it.

Then, I came across Grit magazines homemade BBQ sauce, made from ketchup (we used home canned), pure maple syrup, dry mustard, black pepper, and cider vinegar.  It's not canned, but I was so excited to find it, because I wouldn't have to can it (just the ketchup).

So, while ketchup was reducing to can, I put a pot on another burner and whipped up a batch.

More Tomatoes ~ Oh my!

Ketchup requires 10 pounds of tomatoes - 3 batches made.  More to make later I hope.

I've been successful at getting the tomatoes cut and cooked down before the sun rises, but not through the sauce maker.  Early is best when canning with sauce anything.  This was a double batch of tomato paste (20 pounds).  That is one of my smaller sauce pans - 8 inches tall, and 10 inches in diameter.  That is what it looks like before it becomes.....