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I started off the morning with a big pot of colorful tomatoes, waiting to be turned into spaghetti sauce for the evening meal. They were simmered until soft, blended smooth with the stick blender, then run through the chinoise to remove the seeds. I like to make my sauce this way, using the skins, which are completely undetectable when the sauce is finished. There is very little waste. I let the sauce cook down a bit, then added some onion and garlic that had been sauteed until soft, dried basil and oregano from last year's garden, salt and pepper. One taste let me know a teaspoon of sugar was needed, as I like a hint of sweetness in my spaghetti sauce. I had also decided to add a bit of red wine to the sauce, but.......I don't drink, so I didn't have a corkscrew! The next best thing?
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It worked! It took me a few minutes, as my muscle man wasn't home.
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Some browned lean ground beef was added, seasonings adjusted to taste, and the entire conglomeration was dumped into the crockpot to cook slowly all day.
My neighbor, the ones with the weeds (but also an apricot tree, a peach tree and an apple tree), had brought me a bag of peaches that were too bruised for canning, but perfect for jam. I made one batch of freezer jam yesterday, and still had some of the nicer ones I had set aside for eating. I decided to go ahead and make another batch of jam instead. I could only find one half-pint jar, so I also had to use three pint jars. Where oh where did I put the half-pints? I'll probably find them next December.
With the jam finished, I got to thinking how good a loaf of French bread would be with the spaghetti we were going to eat for dinner, so that was the next chore on the agenda. Done!
I hadn't been out to the garden yet, so that was the next thing that had to be accomplished. I wasn't expecting a very big harvest, as everything has slowed down with this hot weather. Well, the harvest was definitely acceptable.
Soooo......that's where I am right now. The sauce is cooked, the bread is rising, the jam is finished and the garden goodies have been picked. It looks like we'll be having some sliced cucumbers, fresh corn and broccoli tonight, and I'm thinking I might have to beg the neighbors to take some yellow summer squash. And I'm right back where I started with tomatoes. Too many to eat fresh, not enough (and too small) to can, so tomorrow there will be another pot of sauce.
My harvests have been smaller this week. The beans are in a lull. The cukes are dying from wilt. The zukes are just sitting there. I'm really hoping things pick up soon.
ReplyDeleteDaphne, my summer squash are making up most of my harvest weight this week. I'm going to have to find myself a new recipe, or start tossing them at passing cars.
DeleteGranny, I'll drive by with my windows open and you can toss those squash in my car! I can't get enough zucchini this year, and my two plants are succumbing to powdery mildew :( But I wont dare offer to take any from family/neighbors, etc., because no one picks zukes until they're baseball bat size around here.
DeleteP.S. Love the "corkscrew"!
Kristy, I harvested a baseball bat yesterday. I don't know why those are so easily missed!
DeleteLooks like we're both on a cookout this weekend - making batches of sauces here too :)
ReplyDeleteJenny, hopefully I'll eventually get enough small batches in the freezer that I can combine them and can them. I need the freezer space!
DeleteI hadn't checked my shop garden in about a week because I thought everything was too small to be ready for a few weeks. Then we drove past it tonight and I saw color. So Mr Farmer and I headed out there. Only when we got there, I had to send him for a bucket. He came back with a 5 gallon bucket that we filled half full! I couldn't believe it. They were so ugly that I didn't take photos of them yet. And they had lots of bug holes, so I'll have to clean and cut them up pretty quickly. Your crockpot sauce looks yummy. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteLangela, I've picked daily, but not got a lot. I was surprised at how much was ready today. I can't believe I'm getting so much broccoli! I hope it just keeps pumping it out.
DeleteI'm sure Mr Granny is right there with you on the broccoli! ;)
DeleteLangela, he just won't even eat it any more, unless I put it in a stir fry. I had it with dinner last night, but he only had corn. I'll be freezing it so I can fix small servings, because I really love the garden fresh stuff.
DeleteLovely day and so productive. Dinner sounds very yum (as always!). That was a good harvest for a garden that is in a "lull". ;D
ReplyDeleteKitsap, it was certainly more than I expected. It didn't look like there was much last night, but those squash took on a life of their own.
DeleteSounds like a good day Granny! My kitchen island is completely covered with tomatoes....52 lbs worth! I guess I'll be doing a lot of canning tomorrow. I also leave the skins on some of my tomatoes when I cook them. I guess I'm in good company!
ReplyDeleteRobin, I do wish I'd get enough large tomatoes to start canning, but these small batches of sauce are better than nothing.
DeleteYou've taught me a new word -- chinoise -- and a new, easier way to cook tomatoes for sauce. If I can leave the skin on, I might actually get around to turning tomatoes into sauce. Yes!
ReplyDeleteDianefaith, it certainly makes it easier. If you don't have a stick blender, you could put the tomatoes into a regular blender or food processor. Either way, it pretty much pulverizes the skins and incorporated them into the sauce, but the chinoise is a real necessity for me to get out the seeds and a very few tough skins.
DeleteI tried small-batch tomato canning last year, and it was really successful and easy. As long as I had lemon juice in the house, that is.
ReplyDeleteThe sauce sounds great. I like the way you get the seeds out but everything else stays in.
Stefaneener, most of my canning is small batch. As soon as I get anything that will make 5 pints or more it gets done. It just seems like there is a lot less this year, but then I look back and see most of my canning is accomplished in September. Blogs are wonderful for jarring our memories!
DeleteGranny, you and I must have had the same idea. I also made sauce today. I found tomatoes in the freezer from last season. * blush* don't know how I forgot I had them.
ReplyDeleteOh Holly, don't blush. Been there, done that, more than once! I found two bags in my freezer this summer, but I just went ahead and made spaghetti sauce out of them. Yes, they had been put there to save for canning.
DeleteI finally splurged on one of those stick blenders a couple of years ago. When I look back on what a pain in the tookus it was making cream soups, etc., I wonder why I didn't buy one sooner. They're so handy for so many things.
ReplyDeleteYou know, Sue, I hardly ever think to use mine except at tomato time. Instead, I'll try to burn myself up by using the food processor or blender with hot liquids, then I'll remember....hey, I should have used that stick! I'm such a slow learner ;-)
DeleteGranny, it sounds like I make my sauce very similar to you. I don't have a stick blender, but put the tomatoes, skins and all in the food processor then run it through the foley food mill to get out the seeds. Then it's all ready to season and cook down. But...do you think you could send me a pint or two of your energy??
ReplyDeleteNutmeg, I canned all of my energy in quart jars last year. Would that work for ya? :-D
DeleteOkay, Granny, I'm turning you in to the Wine Lover's Association for that stunt with the pliers. That was Man Logic! You know some very good wines are bottled with screwcaps now.
ReplyDeleteJohn, back in my youth all the cheap wines (all we could afford) had screw caps! When I grabbed that $2.99 bottle of red wine, I didn't even realize it had a cork :-) Now my dilemma is....what do I do with the rest of the bottle, as I only needed 1/2 cup of the wine! I suppose a pot roast or some short ribs are in order.
DeleteOh Granny! You need to read my post tomorrow! I have a solution for you next time you have leftover wine.
DeleteHey, 1st. Man....are we going to have a party? LOL!!!!
DeleteGranny-You have to be one of those highly efficient people that I so envy! Homemade sauce, bread and jam + harvesting and blogging about it! Way to go.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Agriburbia! Just this morning, I was trying to boil eggs for deviled eggs, mix up a batch of zucchini bread and load the dishwasher while conversing with Mr. Granny. The eggs boiled over, I think I forgot to put the detergent in the dishwasher (I ended up restarting it and doing a short wash), and I finally had to kick Mr. Granny out of the kitchen. At least the bread turned out great! I can do one thing at a time well, but any more than that and I'm a mess.
DeleteI think my stick blender is my favorite kitchen appliance. I use it constantly. I think i'll use your idea of the slow cooker for tomato sauce this year though. Simmering it all day is a pain. I usually oven roast the tomatoes to start out then simmer them after blending. I love the flavor from the oven roasting, and I can do the onion, garlic, and any other veggies I throw in with them the same way.
ReplyDeleteNow if only i had some tomatoes to sauce... lol
Anywhere, I'm going to oven roast today's batch for the freezer. All of those in this post were made into spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner (leftovers for freezing), and I really cooked it too long. It was very good around 2 in the afternoon, and way too strong flavored by the time we ate it at six.
DeleteBusy indeed! And a good harvest to boot! I'm still looking for a canned pizza sauce recipe. Can't find a Mrs. Wages and, well I suppose I could try the internet.... I bet dinner was delicious!
ReplyDeleteDavid, I've not only found Mrs. Wages hard to find this year, I had to go to three different stores to find pectin! I like Mrs. Wages for ketchup, too. In the meantime, I've been freezing my sauces, but I'm running out of room now.
DeleteLovely sauce! I will do skins too, it's so much easier LOL!
ReplyDelete