350 pounds (soLs)

In the past few days, we have processed 350 pounds of tomatoes. My friend Tricia and I made spaghetti sauce, tomato juice, crushed tomatoes, and salsa with 200 pounds of them. The girls and I have made spaghetti sauce with the remaining 150 pounds.

We're efficient.

1. The girls wash the tomatoes, while I peel and chunk the onions.
2. I smash the garlic cloves, and they peel them.
3. I chop the red peppers in half while they clean them. 
4. Then we chunk the peppers.
5. Stephanie takes the bowls of peppers, onions, and garlic to the other end of the kitchen. She sets up the blender.
6. I core the tomatoes.
7. Hannah quarters them. 
8. Steph runs everything through the blender and dumps it into the giant, 20 quart stock pot.
9. Sam builds a train track around the kitchen and makes us laugh with his witty jokes.

We can core, chop, and blend 50 pounds of tomatoes into sauce in 45 minutes. Then it simmers and simmers and simmers, eventually becoming thick and ready to can.

The thing I like best is the togetherness of it all. They've changed. We can work together on a project and everyone is content. Joyful.  Helpful. It's the way a family is supposed to be. It is teamwork at its finest. They don't even like spaghetti sauce. And yet they love standing side by side in the kitchen, chatting, laughing, and cooking.

It's a moment when I realize my family is just as it is designed to be. I think I'll eat spaghetti sauce every time I need to be reminded of this.

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