A Lasting Homesteading Living Memory: Making Homemade Spaghetti Sauce with My Oldest Son

Creating Lasting Memories in the Mudroom

There's something uniquely special about making something yourself, particularly when it serves as a backdrop for cherished moments with loved ones, as my dad would say, "making memories." I vividly recall the first time I made homemade spaghetti sauce with my oldest son on our dead-end road homestead. I was also excited to try our commercial-grade electric press, which I bought recently. That experience was not merely about cooking; it was about bonding, teaching, and weaving together the fabric of family tradition.

The Journey Begins: Ingredients and Preparation

Gathering the ingredients was our first exciting step—a simple yet profound engagement that transformed a routine task into Dad, can I help as my son walked by. I taught my son to select the ripest tomatoes, carefully cutting them off the vine and breaking off the stems so that they don't damage each other once they're stacked on one another. In this process, I watched him carefully examine each fruit, understanding the importance of quality in our homemade sauce as he picked them from my bonsai tree growing style. We love mixing in our delicious pineapple, a low-acid and sweet heirloom variety that we have had great success in growing. I picked two, one in each hand, and had my wife take a picture, which I later showed someone, and he thought I was wearing boxing gloves. Lol

With our tomatoes packed in 5-gallon buckets and then loaded in our Amish-made toy wagon, we hauled them to the mudroom because I knew we would be making a mess and the wife might not appreciate that. Chopping and dicing became a lesson in patience; he learned how to not go too fast; the press can only handle so much. Each slice of tomato was met with a curious glance or a question about why we chose to make it from scratch rather than buying it from the store. He even got some tomato juice in his eye that slightly burns; he laughed it off. I cherished these moments—the blending of homesteading skills and life's teachings, passing knowledge from one generation to the next, and the oh-so-good flavor of the cooked sauce in our Italian and chili recipes.

Cooking Together: The Art of Homemade Sauce

As we began cooking, the aroma of boiling tomatoes filled the air, stimulating our senses and setting a warm, inviting tone in the house. We stirred the sauce together; it had a tie-dyed look to it with our different colored tomato varieties, which was so cool. You would definitely not see that at your local grocery store. With each ingredient we added, my son grew more confident, learning that cooking is an art grounded in tradition and creativity and I should add personal preference.

Throughout this experience, we shared laughter and stories. Even my own childhood kitchen experiences with my dad—how I, too, learned to appreciate the joys of cooking and family through similar moments. And I have a lot of great memories of helping my dad grow, pick, and preserve veggies, along with the many times helping him cook. My son’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as he absorbed each detail, cementing a deeper connection to our family history.

As the sauce bubbled on the stove, we both gazed into the pot, eagerly anticipating the final taste. This wasn’t just a lesson about food; it was a shared experience between a boy and his father. Once the tomatoes were boiled down to a nice consistency, we filled the glass mason jars, processed them, and stood in awe as they cooled down on the kitchen counter, looking at the finished product, all the hard work, the pride of creating something from scratch and knowing we would enjoy the fruits of our labor for months to come.

Reflecting on the Experience

Looking back, that day stands out as a significant milestone in our lives. Making homemade spaghetti sauce may seem like a small endeavor, but its impact lingered far beyond that moment. It sparked a love and appreciation for homegrown food and homemade cooking in my son and imparted essential lessons about family and tradition—elements so vital to our lives on the homestead. He hasn't forgotten that time, which means we have created a great memory together. I, too, will always cherish it, and that's why we do homesteading for moments like these. Making sauce and memories is now a yearly tradition.