Mrs. Zook's Tomato Soup (Amish)

Makes about 10 quarts (but I put in pints because it's a fantastic soup base. If you're going to add other stuff to it, then a quart is too much for lunch for my family.)

Mrs. Zook's Tomato Soup

14 qt. tomatoes
2 qt. water
7 onions
14 sticks celery
pepper to taste
3 bay leaves
14 strands parsley
14 T melted butter
14 T sugar
14 T flour
8 T salt
1 pint water

Boil tomatoes, onions, parsley and celery with 2 qt. water, put through sieve (or use a squeezo/food mill with strainer if you have one). Boil sugar, butter, flour, pepper, and salt together with 1 pt. water. Add to tomatoes as soon as it thickens up and stir really, really well. Put in jars and process 30 minutes.

To use -- heat 1 jar tomato soup, add 1 jar cream or rich milk, serve with crackers -- or mix with 1 jar vegetable soup.

My variation: I also added an entire head of elephant garlic to it. Elephant garlic is more mild than regular garlic. It added interesting depth to the soup, but no obvious garlic taste.

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I canned the vegetable soup last weekend.

Mrs. Zook's Vegetable Soup

1 large head cabbage
3 large onions
1 large bunch celery
12 large tomatoes
1 lb carrots
1 handful fresh parsley

Chop all vegetables till fine. Put in large kettle, cover with water, add salt to taste. Cook till carrots tender. Put in jars, process 25 to 30 minutes.

This is incredible when added to the tomato soup. Incredible as in, you'll never be constipated again, there are zero weight watcher's points, and it can heal whatever ails ya.

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Nope. No idea who Pam is. But this is her kick-tush salsa. I added a whole-lotta garlic to it, too.

Pam's Homemade Salsa

12 Qt. tomatoes (1/2 bushel)
1.5 Cup vinegar
2 Tbsp coriander
1 Tbsp parsley
2 Tbsp cumin
1.5 Tbsp oregano
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder (revised by Alaska)
4 tsp garlic powder
1.5 Tbsp canning salt
3 large sweet peppers
2 C chopped onions
1 C chopped hot peppers

Directions

1. Scald and peel tomatoes. Chop into chunks

2. Wash and chop peppers and onions. (Use gloves when handling hot peppers. Hey, I didn't think I needed to either. It doesn't hurt at all -- at first.)

3. Put all ingredients into large pot.

4. Cook over medium heat until desired thickness is attained.

5. Put in hot jars and seal. Process in hot water bath 20 minutes.

Note: All ingredients may be put in food processor to chop if a smoother consistency is desired. (But although I would and did cheerfully use the food processor freely for the vegetable soup, I do think that using it here would lose something. Like, big chunks of ripe, vine-picked tomatoes.) Taste salsa periodically to see if additional spices may be needed. Season to taste.

Everything else I made this year is out of Ball's Canning book. Well, okay, Saturday night's jam which Max and I dubbed "Very Berry Orange" was

pick out all the raspberries and blackberries that didn't go back from the big collection of raspberries and blackberries you bought. Stare mournfully at the cup and a half you have left. Shrug shoulders and move on. Cut off leaves and chop into quarters 2 qt. strawberries. Give to 9 year old to mash everything into pulp. Remember that container of Schwan's frozen orange concentrate which is 100% juice. Toss all that in there, too. Add 7 cups of sugar (oh, yeah! Great lesson for 9 year-old on exactly why jelly is considered a sweet and not a fruit. He'll stare open mouthed for a bit.) and a package and a half or even two packages (but we did a package and a half) of powdered pectin.

Bring to hard boil for one minute stirring constantly. Pour into hot jars, seal, and process for 10 minutes. 15 if you underestimated how many jars and lids you needed and started grabbing clean, sanitized, but not hot jelly jars off the shelf. Made about 20 half-cup jelly jars and three half-pint jelly jars. We put half a small jelly jar of this jelly on our biscuits last night with dinner and agreed that we'd really come up with something here. THIS is worth giving out for Christmas presents! If we don't eat it all before then. :::Brushes biscuit crumbs off shirt::::