Instructions: Simmer tomatoes for about 20 minutes and press through a colander, food mill, or a fine sieve to remove seeds. If you have a blender, blend cooked tomatoes before straining to get more pulp. Heat strained tomato pulp to a boil and continue boiling until the volume is reduced by about half. Stir often to prevent sticking and scorching.

Place cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and whole cloves on a thin, clean white cloth. Tie cloth to make spice bag. Add spice bag to boiling pulp and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove bag. Tie onion and garlic, if used, in a thin cloth bag and add to pulp when you add spices. Cook for 20 minutes and remove this bag.

Add the mixture of vinegar, sugar, salt, paprika, and cayenne pepper to the tomato-spice mixture. Boil rapidly, stirring constantly, from 5 to no more than 10 minutes.

Pour hot catsup into clean, hot pint jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Seal with properly prepared canning lids. Process in pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure for 10 minutes.

This recipe yields 2 pints.

Yield: 2 pints

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