Stewed Tomatoes

There's an over abundance of tomatoes this time of year, at least up here in the Midwest where everyone grows their own. We don't do it because we have family that does. I was staring at 10 tomatoes on my counter, 5 of them very ripe, so I thought about what to make with them right away. I pondered: salsa? tomato sauce? spaghetti sauce? I settled on stewed tomatoes. Now, I've never made these from scratch, but I always keep cans of them in my pantry. I figured I could separate the batch into small containers and freeze them. I searched for recipes and there are many variations, so as usual (I ain't scared) I combined the ingredients I thought worked best considering what I had at my disposal.

5 large ripe tomatoes (I did not sacrifice my GIANT tomato for this, it is still whole, but not for long)
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2-3 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 cup water

To successfully peel your tomatoes, boil water, dip the tomatoes in the water for about one minute and transfer to a cold water filled bowl. The skin will shrivel and you can pull it off with your fingers. Dice your tomatoes removing as many seeds as possible and discarding the hard stem portion. Melt your butter in a pan and sautee your celery, onions, peppers and garlic. Add your tomatoes, your salt, sugar and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a gentle boil for about 20 minutes.