Homemade Ketchup

Yesterday I had the kidz pick all the cherry tomatoes. There are so many that we could never eat them all, so I decided to experiment with them.

I have never made ketchup before, so I have no idea how it will turn out, but here goes.

First, I took all the tomatoes and put them through my food strainer. I forgot to take pictures, so you'll have to imagine loads of golden and red cherry tomatoes tumbling and thunking into the hopper. Also picture Baby gleefully cramming them into the hopper hole while I turn the crank.

And now we catch up with some photos. I took the juice/ sauce and put it into the fridge overnight. Come morning, this is what you have.

Scoop off some of the water on top. Place in a pot and proceed to boil off the liquid until the sauce is fairly thick.

Then add your grated onion,

and the rest of the ingredients/spices. Let sit for a few minutes. Then thicken with sugar and corn starch.

It tastes pretty good by itself. I look forward to trying it on hamburgers tonight.

I scaled down a recipe I got from Amish friends and added a bit of heat to it. Here is what I used.

4C tomato sauce
1/8c vinegar
1/8 onion (I used a really small one instead)
dash of each of cinnamon, cloves, all-spice, powdered garlic
2 dashes of chili powder
1T salt
3/4c white sugar
1 1/2T corn starch