Tomato soup

I will start the pictures part way through the process.  I have blanched and pealed about 8 pounds of tomatoes. Then I put them in the food processor.

I added 1 cup of chopped Italian parsley.

Then I added 1 cup of chopped celery.

I added fresh ground pepper.

The recipe called for 6 bay leaves.  I roughed them up a bit so that more of the flavor would come out.

They will be picked out later when the rest of the seasoning will be blended down and added back into the soup.

Two cups of onions were added in and allowed two simmer until tender.

For preserving sake I added 1/4 cup sugar

And 2.5 tablespoons salt.

I chopped several cloves of garlic.

After everything simmered until the vegetables were tender, then I put the mixture through a sieve. I transfered the seasonings into the food processor to puree.

The puree material was then strained through a cheesecloth to catch the seeds before adding back into the soup base.

I mixed in one pack of sure gel to thicken it before I heated it and canned it.

The recipe called for canning in a pressure canner (Dale bought one last spring) for 25 minutes with 10 pounds of pressure. The instructions were specific: use pint size jars!