Spaghetti Anyone??!!

On Friday, when I came home from grocery shopping, my husband asks me if I've seened our garden today? No, I have not. When I walked out there, I had to come back with a large enough bag in order to carry all the tomatoes that were screaming to be picked. So many, it was great. I knew then I'd have enough to make sauce on Saturday. The bag was so full and heavy I needed to hug the bag against me so it wouldn't break. I was so excited. My bestfriend, Valerie, her husband gave me his mom's recipe for homemade sauce. I was so happy, there is nothing like homemade sauce, nothing. Now I would never of known this if it hadn't been for another dear friend of mine in NYC. (see further below for that story). But ever since then, I was determined to one day make my own sauce. But so many times I've heard how much work it is. The peeling, chopping, so many hours. But this recipe he gave me has proved that wrong. There is peeling and chopping, but not near what I thought. I will make this again and again. So worth it. Well, now it's time to make sauce.

Ok, I think I have all my ingredients ready. Everything needed to make this wonderful sauce. As I started to chop and process, I realized I needed to go back out to my garden and pick parsley. This is the most exciting part for me. Besides making the sauce, it's going out to my garden to pick out the tomatoes, basil, parsley, and onions. Such a satisfying feeling. Knowing that I can actually grow veggies. Me, a girl from the city. This is wonderful.

I started out using one large pot, but quickly ran out of room, which is a good problem to have. More sauce for us.

Now adding the tomato paste, which gives it a wonderful flavor and beautiful color.

All that hard work is now done, it's been cooking on the stove for over two hours, making my home smell like you just walked into an Italian home. Isn't the color just beautiful? It brings back memories of living in NYC and every Wednesday I'd go over to my girl friend's house where she rented from her in-law's. They were from Sicily, and on those cold winter days she'd have either fresh pasta made with her homemade sauce or some soup which she'd make with her sauce, waiting for us when we entered into her home, then she'd take parmesan cheese, which she'd receive in the mail from family back home, and grate it right over our dishes. OHHHH the aroma, the flavors. I would slowly savor every bite and make noises that you probably shouldn't make at the dinner table, but she seemed to enjoy our reactions. Wish I had some right now.

So this is the finished product. Twelve pints of homemade, delicious sauce. Can't wait to use it this winter. Lasagne or meatballs.......MMMMM.Everytime we open up a container it'll be a great reminder of the hard work put into it, and it'll be worth it after every bite...I can taste it now. Wanna come over for dinner?