It's raining. I am still sick. I have discovered some paperwork that I thought was taken care of... is indeed not. And I still have some to do (*or do again as it were). It is frustrating.
And so... even though it was chilly and rainy... my niece and her 3 kids and I went and worked in a local garden... cleaning and picking and salvaging veggies. And tonight.... I am making home-made spaghetti sauce.
And so... even though it was chilly and rainy... my niece and her 3 kids and I went and worked in a local garden... cleaning and picking and salvaging veggies. And tonight.... I am making home-made spaghetti sauce.
Two of the 10 books I have read over the course of this month had to do with food. One was "Eat, Pray, Love"... which was good... but somehow I felt a little let down after hearing all the hype around the book and the movie. The 2nd book, was by Molly Wizenberg and is called "A Homemade Life." This was great. Ms. Wizenberg has a really interesting writing style, and I love that she included family recipes at the end of each chapter. So... in homage to that...
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Spaghetti Sauce a la Potter County
-as many cherry tomatoes as I could pick, plus some farmer's market heirloom tomatoes that were left over in the fridge.
All were washed, and de-stemmed.
(Normally, I would have pureed them in the blender at this point...
but my niece prefers them not pureed)
- 2 medium sized cans of organic tomato paste
- 2 small organic onions, chopped fine
- 3 stalks of celery, chopped fine
- about 6 little peppers. Some were ordinary green bell peppers, some looked like chile verde, a couple were banana peppers. All from the garden... washed, no seeds, chopped fine.
- 1 small can of diced mushrooms (it was in the cupboard... so why not)
- garlic. Lots. I used the whole big hunk of garlic... which was about 6 cloves. I like garlic.
- Oregano. Thyme. Basil. About 2-3 tbs each.
- 2 small organic onions, chopped fine
- 3 stalks of celery, chopped fine
- about 6 little peppers. Some were ordinary green bell peppers, some looked like chile verde, a couple were banana peppers. All from the garden... washed, no seeds, chopped fine.
- 1 small can of diced mushrooms (it was in the cupboard... so why not)
- garlic. Lots. I used the whole big hunk of garlic... which was about 6 cloves. I like garlic.
- Oregano. Thyme. Basil. About 2-3 tbs each.
-2 tbsp sugar
-salt and pepper to taste.
It's been cooking on low heat for about 3hrs now... in a huge chili pot... and it has been stirred frequently so as not to burn on the bottom. About 1/3 of it has reduced... and I have most all of the tomatoes smashed into bits so that everything is chunky, but thick ... and I am letting it cool down.
Then it will go into containers and be stored in the freezer for an easy pasta topping in the future.
-salt and pepper to taste.
It's been cooking on low heat for about 3hrs now... in a huge chili pot... and it has been stirred frequently so as not to burn on the bottom. About 1/3 of it has reduced... and I have most all of the tomatoes smashed into bits so that everything is chunky, but thick ... and I am letting it cool down.
Then it will go into containers and be stored in the freezer for an easy pasta topping in the future.
**UPDATE** --this batch yielded 15 pints