Saturday, September 14, 2013

Easy Roasted Tomato Sauce

 I love growing tomatoes in my garden. Nolan and I especially love a variety called Oxheart. As you can see from the photos, these tomatoes tend to be large! They also are slow growing and ripen late in the season. This is why I now have an abundance of tomatoes sitting in the sunroom. I've been making roasted tomato sauce with these because it is so EASY! I know there are lots of recipes floating around the web for this type of sauce but I thought I'd share my method. 
 Generally people roast a less juicy tomato like a Roma, but I think a juicy tomato works well for this sauce. You just have to roast it a little (or a lot) longer! Step one: wash your tomatoes. Since my tomatoes came from our backyard garden, I know the only thing that needs washed off is a little dirt.
 You'll need a cutting board, sharp knife, pan to roast the tomatoes (it must have sides or you'll have a grand mess) olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and any herb you prefer.
 Cut out the stem end and any bruised or "nasty" parts of the tomato. No need to peel it. Once you have all the bad sections in the compost, cut the tomato into cubes.
 Fill the tray making sure the tomatoes aren't overlapping too much. Drizzle with olive oil (I always say more is better than less), add salt and pepper to your liking (see note on olive oil) and toss to coat.
 Roast at 400F. for 45 minutes to an hour depending on your tomato type and how many you're roasting. You can see from my pan on the right, I roasted a little too long. No worries, it all came out wonderfully anyway! Check the tomatoes every 20 minutes or so and give them a stir. Let them cool a little once done.
 Today I used bottled garlic and oregano from our garden. Generally I like to roast whole garlic cloves with the tomatoes. Unfortunately I didn't have any so I went with the bottled. 
 Dump all the ingredients into a blender. I don't measure the garlic or herbs, I just add until I think it looks good (or I run out of something!) Blend for a few seconds to puree. 
 There you have it: Delicious roasted tomato sauce. We like this sauce for our spaghetti squash because it really sticks. I'm putting these in the freezer for a later date. I still have a table full of tomatoes that I'm letting ripen a little longer. I bet I have enough for another 4-6 pints of sauce. Yum!
Now....who wants to do the dishes?

Friday, September 6, 2013

The Fall Garden




Mike and I spent some time in the back yard/garden recently. Things had gotten....well...out of control. In the spring when everything is a blank slate and looks so empty I have a tendency to over-plant. 'Look at all this space behind the herbs,' I think to myself. I should plant some squash there. The squash seed is so small. At the time, I forget how sprawling everything becomes. 

So this year, I had to walk tenderly between the tomato, squash and watermelon vines. It was well worth the effort since we love each of these harvests. 

It is now time to think of fall. School is in session, and, to be honest, I waited a little longer than I should have to plant a few things for fall. I really don't know if these seeds will make it to harvest but it was worth a try.

We've had such a strange summer in terms of weather. Hotter and wetter than normal in July, cooler and dryer than normal in August. My onions rotted due to the rain in July. My butternut and spaghetti squash are slow to ripen due to the coolness of August. 

I've had such a strange summer in other ways as well. 

We're all re-acclimating to fall. To school. To lessons. To our schedule.

Just as I hope my fall crop will germinate, we are slowly putting down roots and sending up shoots in this new phase of life. Each fall seems to be a time of death and a time of new growth. 

Just like in the garden.

Monday, September 2, 2013

My Men







Men. I live in a house of them. I grew up in a house of them. I'm not much of a girly-girl myself except that I do love the womanly arts. 

I find myself in the last years of pre-adulthood motherhood. It is a strange place to find myself. 

So I continue to buy longer pants (for they just keep GROWING.). 

We discuss ethics in this world of cyberspace and all (and I mean ALL) things at our fingertips. I think I have pretty good boys.

I continue to try to figure out how to help them become quality people. To make good husbands (if that is their path) or just good citizens within this crazy world.

Each and every day is a new challenge and a new joy.
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