RAINY DAY FUN/HOMEMADE TOMATO SAUCE

Not only has it rained today, which we needed more than you can know, but that very fact also gave me the chance to do some "inside work" that I've been neglecting for a while. Seems like there have been so many errands to run and so much work to do in the garden, that I hardly ever spend time in the kitchen anymore. So today, I took advantage of the weather and made homemade tomato sauce! It's a whole lot of work, but once you taste it you know you can never buy a jar of spaghetti sauce from the store again. It's life-changing! If you're interested, here's how I do it:

First, I add some olive oil to a really large pot and heat over medium heat.

Chop 3 onions

and 4 or 5 cloves of garlic - you can't have too much garlic, in my book.

Add onion and garlic to the olive oil and sautee until slightly golden.

While that's cooking, fill another large pot about 1/3 full of water and put it on to boil. This water will be used to blanch tomatoes so you can peel them quickly.

Place one layer of tomatoes in the water. If you have a strainer that fits into your pot, that works perfectly. (Thank you again, Big John, for my birthday and Christmas presents! I still love them!)

And plop your strainer into the boiling water. They only need to stay in for 30 seconds or so, but it's okay if you're busy stirring the onions and garlic. You're going to cook them for hours later on anyway.

Pour the blanched tomatoes into a cold water bath and have an empty bowl nearby to hold your peeled tomatoes. This is a great way to use up extra tomatoes if you're tired of making hot sauce. You can even use those tomatoes that are past their prime - although the chickens would prefer you feed them!

The tomato skins will usually slip right off. If you've got slightly underripe tomatoes, or some that just won't peel easily, you can cut an "X" into the bottom, just through the skin, before you put them into the boiling water bath. That gives them a head start on peeling. In no time you'll end up with a sink full of tomato skins and a bowl full of peeled tomatoes!

Next comes the messy part - this is why there are towels spread everywhere when I cook. I'm not that messy normally, but tomatoes don't lend themselves to neatness. Big John handmade my gorgeous wood countertops, so I'm a little uptight about stuff getting on them - in case you were wondering about the towels!

Now core the tomatoes and give them a rough chop. I like my tomato sauce to be "rustic," nothing too fancy.

And I like chunks of vegetables so I know what is in there. It's much easier and I'm really lazy!

This part takes a while, and it's messy - I may have already mentioned that. A friend of ours doesn't peel his tomatoes; just cores them and puts them in the food processor. I was going to try that method today, but I chickened out. Maybe next time, as it sounds like a lot less work and mess.

Throw all the chopped tomatoes into the sauteed onions and garlic and add the herbs and seasonings. You can be creative here, but I use all the Italian herbs from the garden: rosemary, basil, oregano, thyme.

Fresh picked or dried - or a combination of the two - they are just amazing!

Chop it all - again, I went with the rustic chop -

and add to the pot, along with bay leaves, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and about 1 teaspoon of sugar.

Stir and turn down to low. Let simmer for two or three or four hours, stirring occasionally. It will thicken some the longer it cooks.

Here's two hours in:

At this point, you can press your sauce through a food mill, remove the seeds, and return to your pot to simmer for another couple of hours. I don't (rustic!) but I do continue to cook for a while longer - at least another 2 hours. It makes the whole house smell amazing!

Once you're satisfied with the taste and consistency, you've got some options:

• refrigerate and use within a week or so
• freeze in a good freezer-safe container
• gift it in pretty jars with instructions to refrigerate and use soon
•  process in a boiling water bath (can it!)

 I opt for canning. It looks gorgeous on your shelves, next to your green pickles and yellow corn relish. And there is nothing more delicious in the dead of winter than spaghetti (or even pizza) with homemade tomato sauce! Sitting in front of a roaring fire while the wind howls outside - makes you wish for a cold winter night!

Homemade tomato sauce - a good day's worth of work, but well, well worth the effort. Try it just once. You may decide it's more trouble than it's worth to do again, but your family will LOVE your finished product. I guarantee it!