Homesteading With katlupe

Making your own condiments as I said in my earlier post, is a good way to save money at the grocery store. Plus they are so much better than those mass-produced products that cost so much! There are many many recipes for ketchup all over the internet or in cookbooks. Just find a few and try the different kinds to see what ones suit you and your family. I like to have a few different varieties just for a change.

In earlier days, you may be surprised to know that ketchup was made of geen walnuts, grapes, mushrooms, gooseberries, and elderberries. Some even contained shellfish!

Ketchup

2 gallons tomato pulp

2 onions

7-8 Tbsp. salt

2 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

10 drops cinnamon oil

10 drops clove oil

4 cups sugar

6 Tbsp. cornstarch

Cook tomatoes and onions together and run through sieve. Or, grate in blender whole tomatoes (don't have to peel) and onions. Boil together tomatoe pulp, onions, salt, vinegar and oils. Boil down until only 1/3 of the mixture is left. Mix sugar and cornstarch, then add to tomato mixture. Cook several minutes more; pour into jars. Process 5 minutes to be sure of seal.

VARIATIONS:

Use 3 cups vinegar and 6 cups sugar. Cook down 1/2 and use 7-8 Tbsp. cornstarch to thicken.

Ketchup Again

1 peck tomatoes or 13 lbs.

3 large onions

4 cups sugar

3 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cloves

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. red pepper

1 pt. vinegar

Quarter tomatoes and slice onions together in large kettle. Cook till soft. Drain in a bag for 2 hours. (An old pillowcase works well and hang it outdoors for less mess.) Pour juice away and run pulp through sieve or Victoria Strainer. To pulp, add the remaining ingredients. Boil 10 minutes. Bottle and process 20 minutes.

Tomato Ketchup

Prepare by one of two methods:

4 qts. tomato pulp seasoned with 4-5 large onions

Pour boiling water over tomatoes; peel; quarter, and squeeze out some juice with hands. Process tomatoes and onions in blender. Or:

Quarter and cook tomatoes with onions. Pour into food mill, allowing thin juice to run off. Then transfer food mill to another bowl and press out thick pulp. Measure pulp and combine in large kettle:

4 qts. tomato pulp

2 Tbsp. celery salt

4 tsp. salt

3 cups sugar

2 cups cider vinegar

1/4 tsp. red pepper, optional

4 tsp. mixed pickling spices tied in bag

Bring to boil. Reduce heat and cook slowly 1-1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove spice bag. Combine in small bowl:

5 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 cup water

Stir into boiling tomato mixture. Boil 5 more minutes. Seal in hot sterile jars.

This week was my birthday, so I haven't really had much time to post. Yesterday, my sweet husband took me out to breakfast and we had a wonderful day together. He also bought a exhuast fan/light hood for my propane cooking range. The fumes from the oven, even though you can't smell them, were making me so ill, that I was not using my oven. It did not bother anyone else in the house, but it did make me sick......immediately. So I figured out what it was coming from. See we have been remodeling our kitchen and once the walls were insulated and closed in, the fumes had no where to escape to......and I was breathing that. I guess I am more sensitive to it than most people. Anyway, now it is fixed. My kitchen is beginning to look pretty modern.......with my wood cookstove sitting right across from the modern stove. It need not worry........I will always cook with a wood cookstove!

katlupe