a very productive friday!

yes ma'am!  the morning began with a new experience that i will add to my 45 before 45 list...canning!  my aunt trisha used to make this delicious tomato sauce that we used for pasta: spicy homemade ketchup.  i know, i know, it doesn't sound like something to pour over pasta, but it is wonderful!  the recipe includes onions, peppers, garlic, vinegar, sugar, spices.  yummy!  i decided that i would like to attempt to recreate the recipe.

justin, my cousin, provided me with 20 lbs of homegrown tomatoes.  these were washed, cored, cut, & juiced.  i also blended the onions, garlic, & peppers in the tomato juice.  all of this went into a large stock pot.  i added the remaining ingredients & cooked for about 4 hours.  the house smelled wonderful!  for lunch, maddison & i "tested" the sauce to ensure its flavor...delish, just as i remembered!

i sent my canning jars through a cycle in the dishwasher & scalded my lids & rings.  the next step was actually filling the jars.  11 pints, people!  i was so excited to hear the pop of each lid letting me know that the jar had sealed.  i did use a hot water bath for two jars & shortly after pulling them from the water, they, too, made that sweet pop.  ah!  sweet success!

during this 4 hour wait for my sauce to reduce, i did a little sewing.  remember this...

Source: curbly.com via tammy on Pinterest

well, i completed this...

this sweet little bag was gifted to jackie, one of the ladies that i am teaching to quilt, in celebration of her birthday!

that's right, i am leading a small group of ladies in creating a lap quilt.  last night was our third friday night.  we are making a rail fence quilt.  at this point, we have cut fabric, sewn strips, cut squares.  we are now in the process of sewing the squares into rows, the rows into a quilt top.  we are close to adding borders!  

our small quilting group consists of 7 people as of last night...we have grown by one person each week!  we meet at a small country church & have fun sharing food, stories, & sewing! ...so my day ended with quilting!

here is a link to the pattern that we are using...

rail fence quilt

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