Ketchup, Catsup, Catchup, Katsup, Catsip, Cotsup, Kotchup, Kitsip, Catsoup, Katshoup, Katsock, Cackchop, Cornchop, Cotpock, Kotpock, Kutpuck, Kutchpuck and Cutchpuck

No Matter How You Spell It,
It's America's Favorite Condiment...
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ketchup (Catsup)
(source: globalgourmet.com//food/sleuth/0799/)

We've been blessed this year with plenty of rain... which in turn means lottsa veggies in our garden!! We (errr Mr. Wondeful) planted 19 tomato plants this year (Romas and Celebrities) and they've been so fruitful for us! We've already made hot sauce and tomato basil sauce... but we still had mucho tomatoes!

Tomato Basil Summer Sauce

Salsa

It was pretty much a no-brainer what we'd do with our next harvest... MAKE CATSUP!!

Making catsup has long been a family tradition on my dad's side of the family, so naturally we've decided to carry it on with our family.  My mom and dad came over bright and early (yes 8:30 is early to me!) to get started.  Since Mr. Wonderful and I were catsup-making virgins, we needed close supervision and instruction. It's much better to have on the job training for this sorta thing!  

If you've ever made catsup before, you know that in order to get a decent yield you must start with a LOT of tomatoes!

We used a ton of our own home-grown tomatoes and then were lucky enough to be given quite a few more from Mr. Wonderful's uncle who lives just down the road from us.  We ended up with so many tomatoes that we spent a total of 13 hours making the yummy condiment.  How much catsup did we end up, after slaving over the stove for 13 hours you ask? Well, we're proud to say that we made 35 pints, larger than any batch my parents have made to date!

Personally what I treasured the most about making it was the time spent together with my parents.  Watching, listening, laughing and learning from them is simply priceless.  If you'd have asked me 10 years ago if I'd ever see myself making catsup or canning anything I would have bet money that my answer would have been NO!!

It's funny how over time I've starting walking more closely in their footsteps, what a wonderful thing!!

Mom and dad, hard at it!

 Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.

~ Proverbs 19:20, NLT

My father very rarely drinks a beer... this is proof that making catsup is hard work!

And it's a messy job...

But it's so fun!

Oh are you wondering what the munchkins were up to the whole time? Oh nothing much... just being angels of course!

Munchkins 2 and 3

Munchkins 1 and 2 (1 has a broken leg, hence the wheelchair)