It’s that time of the year again folks…….I bet you never knew just HOW easy it is to “can your own tomatoes”.

I started canning tomatoes soon after Bob & I were married…(1977).  I always believed home grown tomatoes made a better sauce than any store bought can tomato on the market (yes, even the ones from Italy).  My family has NEVER had store bought sauce….

When I started canning,  their was really no easy way of canning tomatoes; you would purchase the tomatoes (or grow them), score the bottom of the tomato with a sharp knife and plunge the tomatoes into boiling hot water.  Once the tomato skin would break away you would then plunge the tomatoes into cold water (to stop the boiling), then skin them using your favorite knife.  This took hours, some times a couple of days.  I am happy to say that my family has helped in this process.

Years ago I came across the best tool ever……I have always loved having a vegetable garden, however it never produced as many tomatoes as I needed to get me through a year of homemade sauce. This tool is called “Electric Tomato Press”. This tool changed my canning life!  I can now go to the farmers market, purchase 3-4 boxes of tomatoes, ($8-10 per box)  and with the help of my family have about 40-50 quarts “put up” in a couple of hours.  These “canned” tomatoes will last a couple of years.

Below you will find a video that Jen and I made several years ago, “Canning 101”.  I hope this encourages you to try this technique.  My family has fond memories over the past 30 some odd years of this fun family project.  Not only will you have the best sauce, but you will make the “best family memories”

Buon Appetito!