A few weeks ago my neighbors and I tried our hands at canning for the first time. We were spurred on by the incredible tomatoes I enjoyed all summer from my Consumer Supported Agriculture account with Harvest Valley Farms. Oh how I love a good tomato. To be able to enjoy locally grown tomatoes all winter long was certainly worth the eight hours it took to cook and can 24 jars each of tomatoes and spaghetti sauce. We followed Barbara Kingsolver’s family secret recipe for the sauce, as found in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. I’d never made the sauce before but it sounded delicious (the secret ingredient is honey).
Unfortunately, it doesn’t taste delicious. At least not to my palate. I made spaghetti last night and was devastated to learn that I now have 23 jars of sauce I don’t care for. This was just days after the five pounds of fresh green beans that I flash-cooked and froze turned to mush because my freezer broke. I tell you, if I open a jar of my canned tomatoes only to find I don’t like them I’m not sure what I’ll do. Although …
Homemade foodstuffs do make great holiday gifts.
Is the sauce salvageable? That is, while you might not like it plain, can you add anything when serving to improve it? I typically doctor up the store-bought sauces to make them yummier; maybe you can come up with spices or a way to serve the sauce that tastes more to your liking.
Also, if you give me a can of tomato sauce during this holiday season, I’m not going to know how to react now.
Yes, sauce could be doctored. I’m going to label it “Sauce Base” on the jar I give you
Oh Julie, I am laughing out loud! This story is hilarious, mostly because it sounds like something that would happen to me. I, too, was going to suggest doctoring the sauce. Add salt & pepper & garlic & sugar (lots of it)! Those basics should mask the unpleasantness of your creation! And if it still isn’t tasty, it’ll make great compost — ha,ha!
Like Cynthia, I’m a little nervous about receiving a jarred Christmas gift from you! But beware because I just might bake you a batch of my horribly dry, throat-closing scones!