Note: This recipe assumes you do not have a hand-cranked sauce or juice maker.

Place tomatoes, onion, celery, bay leaves, parsley, and garlic in a large, non-aluminum kettle. Bring to a simmer and cook for an hour, stirring often; use a potato masher to squish the veggies to bring out the juices. Strain through a colander. The remaining solids still have some juice remaining. Place them in a muslin or cheesecloth bag and wring them out, or put the bag in a colander with some heavy weights on top. Once you have collected as much juice as you can, put it back in the kettle and add salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. At this point, you can add some options such as hot sauce, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, etc., according to your taste. Bring juice to a boil and ladle it into hot, clean canning jars. Seal and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes. Yields about 5–6 quarts, depending on the type of tomato used.