Lara's Pizza Sauce

I made this sauce last year but I decided to tweak it a little bit more for the best most amazing pizza sauce. I ended up with a half case of seconds tomatoes from a guy on the side of the road selling produce. The guy gave me all the tomatoes for free plus I had a couple of tomatoes from my garden to add to this sauce. I always make my pizza dough from scratch and it's so nice to be able to open up a jar of sauce that's ready to use.

Lara's Special Pizza Sauce

5-6 pints

25-28 tomatoes or 15 large size tomatoes in 3" diameters
2 large onions, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tbps olive oil
2 Tbps lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbps Sugar
4 TBPS fresh parsley, chopped
1 TBPS oregano
1 TBPS basil
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp fennel seed
2 tsp salt
2 8 oz cans of tomato paste

directions:

1. Dice tomatoes and cook tomatoes on med heat for 30 minutes!
2. Puree tomatoes in bender....two cups at a time
3. Mince the onion and garlic
4. Put olive oil in deep pan and saute the onions and garlic until transparent. Add onions and garlic to tomatoe puree and the rest of the ingredients; stir well to blend. Cook on low until mixture is reduced. Keep stirring occasionally for 1.5 or 2 hours.
5. When sauce is done and nicely thickened, ladle into hot pint size jars, clean the rims of the jars, and seal. Process for 25 mintues in water bath or pressure cook for 15 minutes at 10 lbs of pressure.

enjoy!

Olive Garden Italian Dressing

*Sara*
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons corn syrup
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Mix all ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little to tart for your own personal tastes please add a little extra sugar.

Summer Pasta Salad

Created by Me (Lara):

1 box of bowtie pasta

6-8 slices of bacon and crumbled
two carrots shredded
1/2 cup of peas
2 stalks of celery diced
half of red onion-diced
1 cup of cherry tomatoes cut in half

dressing
1 cup mayo
1 cup sour cream
3 tbps of fresh parsley
2 shakes of ms. dash
1 tsp salt and pepper too taste
1 tsp or more of garlic salt

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate

from Kitchen Simplicity

Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate - inspired by Martha Stewart
3/4 cup strawberry puree (below)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice (approximately 4 lemons)
Mix ingredients together and use immediately or freeze in a small storage container.
To serve: Add 5 cups cold water and stir to combine. Add additional sugar if needed.*
Makes: 6 cups juice

Tips
*Every fruit has a different level of sugar and every person has a different personal preference. That is why you may need to add more sugar. It's better to not have enough the first time and have to add more then to have too much and not be able to take any out.

*I like to use sparkling water for an even more refreshing taste.

* To store flat: line a large mug with a resealable plastic bag and pour in concentrate, remove excess air and seal tightly. This way you can stack them on top of each other in the freezer and they don't take up as much space.

* You may need to thaw it a bit before using. To do this quickly, place under hot running tap water.

Strawberry puree
2 cups strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
2 tsp. sugar
Blend until smooth. Strain through sieve to remove seeds.
*This makes a little more then needed in the above recipe. Any extra puree can be frozen, in tablespoon portions, in ice cube trays, for later use.