July 29, 2011
July in Review
July marks my first full month of blogging, and was it ever a busy month!
The month started out with a simple Fourth of July tablescape.
Fourth of July Tablescape
Thank you so much for all of your comments on this post! Your kind words mean the world to me. I’m looking forward to sharing more tablescapes with you in the coming months. Including one for a ladies-only brunch.
Last Year's Brunch
I started planning the menu for the brunch here, and I can’t wait to share more details with you as I continue to plan this event.
We celebrated the Fourth of July holiday this month with a relaxing weekend at home.
Cupcakes!
This month, I also told you a story about my complex, little Chihuahua, Isabel. I’m looking forward to sharing even more stories about her and our other dog, Roxy.
"Mom, we have a problem here."
One of this month’s most popular posts was all about canning beans. This is by far the longest post, coming in at around 1,000 words. If you want to learn how to can beans, be sure to check out this post as it gives a step-by-step rundown of the canning process.
Another one of the most popular posts this month was a breakdown of how to can spaghetti sauce. The husband and I eat a lot of spaghetti sauce, so I’m definitely going to have to make more of this soon. I hope to not have to buy a jar of spaghetti sauce until next year.
Turn Jars Upside Down to Seal
I celebrated Christmas in July when I decided not to let Christmas sneak up on me this year. I’ve started working on some of my crafts, and I even made a Christmas binder to help keep me organized. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my progress.
Christmas Binder
I also shared some photos from our June vacation to Vegas, L.A. and the Grand Canyon. We had such a blast!
Grand Canyon
Another popular post this month was the rag wreath I made in honor of my Alma Mater and our favorite college football team. Go Vols!
There’s a full tutorial included for making this wreath, so be sure to check it out if you missed it.
Lastly, I told you about an exciting, belated birthday gift that came in the mail. I’ve got a lot of craft ideas involving this little machine.
Silhouette SD
I’m so happy I was able to share this month with all of you. Stick with me, because I’ve got even more planned for August. If you want to be notified of new posts, sign up to receive email notifications on the right side of the page.
See you in August!
July 24, 2011
Canning Spaghetti Sauce
My canning adventures continue. My most recent venture into the word of canning? Spaghetti sauce. We eat a lot of spaghetti sauce, so when my mother gave me a bunch of tomatoes, I immediately knew what to make.
Canning tomatoes is much easier than canning beans, because you can can (not the dance) tomatoes without a pressure canner. (For a breakdown on canning beans using a canner, click here.)
Here’s what you’ll need to can spaghetti sauce:
- Tomatoes
- Ice Water
- Crock Pot
- Pairing Knife
- Jars
- Jar Lids
- Jar Rings
- Funnel
- Slow Cooker
- Spaghetti Sauce Ingredients (see below)
The first thing you need to do when canning spaghetti sauce is sanitize your jars, rings and lids. You can do this by running the jars and rings through the dishwasher. I usually wash the lids, or flats, with soapy water.
Another benefit to washing your jars in the dishwasher is that they come out nice and hot. This is important since you won’t be using a pressure canner to seal your jars. My dishwasher runs on a two-hour cycle, so I timed making my spaghetti sauce to two hours.
If your jars are already sanitized and you won’t be using a dishwasher, you can heat them by pouring boiling water in each jar a few minutes before you pour your spaghetti sauce in. You can transfer the boiling water from jar to jar as you add spaghetti sauce. Just be sure and use a funnel, because pouring boiling water on your hands is no fun. Trust me.
Now that your jars are in the process of being sanitized, it’s time to prepare your spaghetti sauce.
The first thing you’ll want to do is peel and core your tomatoes. This can be done very simply by blanching your tomatoes in boiling water for a few minutes, and then dropping them into ice water.
Blanche Tomatoes by Dropping into Boiling Water
Drop Blanched Tomatoes into Ice Bath
Use your pairing knife to core each tomato.
Core Tomatoes
The skins will come loose in the boiling water, making them super easy to peel by hand. If they’re too hot to touch, drop them back in the water for a few seconds.
Peel Tomatoes By Hand
Once all of your tomatoes are peeled and cored, drop them into your slow cooker. I dropped mine in whole, but next time I’ll chop them up.
To your tomatoes, add your spaghetti sauce ingredients. You can follow any recipe you want. Through trial and error, I’ve come up with a simple sauce that is versatile enough to be used for spaghetti, pizza, chicken parmesan, etc.
To make my spaghetti sauce, you’ll need:
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