In which I magically make 5 pounds of tomatoes disappear

 And made a very successful batch of ketchup.  Or catsup. The cats were up as I began the messiest of messy tasks, but they grew weary and abandoned me to my red nightmare. If you want to give up most of your morning while handling many containers of very threatening red stuff, make your own condiment! 

I had planned to snap a photo of the process but where to even pause and do so? There was no respite once it began. So, all I have in what is left of the final result. Sorry. Terrible let down, really. 

As for the artistry of the process, let my words be your eyes...

Imagine- a colander heaping over with 5 pounds (about) of bright red tomatoes and three ripe plums. See the onion and garlic gently cooking in olive oil in the bottom of my bright red Dansk enameled pot? Gaze as the tomatoes get added once they have been coarsely chopped. They cook for 15 minutes until all the small cherry tomatoes have burst and the very full pot is bubbling -suddenly, in go the plums! They too, have been chopped up and still wear their skins for added flavor...can you see it? 

Another 5 minutes goes by and then another 5 to make sure it has all had a chance to meld together and soften just so. During that time, the kitchen island has been set up to receive the bright red Dansk enameled pot (did you know that their lids were designed to be a trivet for them? well, you do now.) It goes thusly: trivet, blender, pampered chef glass handled pouring bowl with fine mesh strainer atop, extra ceramic bowl and a big stainless-steel bowl for the yucky guck that remains in the fine mesh strainer. The bright red Dansk enameled pot is moved carefully from the stove (turn that off- this will take a while) and a few ladles full go into the blender- mix, puree- until the dizzying array of skins gives way to a smooth red color- pour into fine mesh strainer; stir stir stir, pour the smooth tomato concoction into the other ceramic bowl- fling the yucky guck into the stainless steel bowl for compost and repeat many times over until the bright red Dansk enameled pot is empty. 

The bright red Dansk enameled pot is washed and ready to receive the smooth sauce along with 1/4 cup of sugar, some allspice, paprika, cayenne, salt, and if it were in the pantry (which it wasn't so it didn't) cloves. Now the silicone whisk starts its shift (just please don't ever use metal on a bright red Dansk enameled pot!) and whisk, whisk, whisk for EVER...well, not EVER but a long time- cooking it down for around 40 minutes before adding a 1/2 cup of that crazy cider vinegar that some folks drink to cure everything. Then it continues its chatty bubbling between stirrings until it is thick and smooth and ready for tater tots. 

It is an amazing way to use up a lot of tomatoes while conserving storage space. It is also similar to running a half marathon which Tom was able to do and then some during the time it took to work through this- also it would be the start of a marathon of cooking down nonsense if one decided to just keep on bubbling until you made tomato paste- although, I think you might hold off on the spices and vinegar for that...just keep on cooking it down and down until pasty. 

Finally, don't forget what my mother always told me, "A good cook always cleans up her mess!" I did that too, but Tom made the tater-tots for us because this and the kitten just plum wore me out.