Tis the season to can tomato sauce

I love tomato season. There's nothing better than a locally grown, vine-riped tomato that makes store bought varieties pale in comparison.

Today Pat gave me a box of her garden tomatos so I decided to make and can tomato sauce. Pat is a gardening genius with a huge spread of garden-- I could learn a lot from her sucess coaxing vegetables from the soil.

I combined two recipes but here is the basic recipe I relied on.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

10 lbs tomatoes, washed, cored, and chopped

3 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp sugar

I then added some of my own fresh basil and parsley, olive oil, and Thyme.

Just put everything into a large pot and simmer for 2 hours. Then pulse in the blender and return to heat until tickened.

Finally, coat canning jars in lemon juice and fill 3/4 full. Screw lids tightly and place in boiling water bath for 35 minutes.

Not only is this nutritious, but our house smells delicious!