Saucy Summer

There is nothing like the sweet taste of summer tomatoes.  But finding that flavor out of season is a trick to be sure.  One of our favorite ways to capture the taste of summer is to make sauce.  Making your own sauce is as easy as 1-2-3.

We start out crushing and grinding about 40 medium sized tomatoes.  This is a whole lot of work so you might want to ask someone to help you.

As you can see we're not picky about whom we recruit.

Tomatoes crushed and ground we're ready to simmer down.  There is so much water in the tomato puree we need to reduce down to half.  We add a little olive oil, lots and lots of fresh basil, crushed garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. 

Sauce after about 3 hours of simmering on stove - yum!  Now we are ready to eat.

Dad and the kids opted for their sauce over penne.

A little pecorino romano cheese is a must.

Mom decided to have her sauce mixed with chick peas and zucchini.

 

We'll freeze the extra sauce so in winter we can have a taste of summer.

Bon Appetit!

Now what do we do with all these zucs and cukes?  Any ideas?

- Chris

Who's eating my tomatoes?

From the moment we planted our tomatoes in the spring, we have been waiting for our first red, ripe delicious tomato, but someone has beaten us to them.

We suspect the culprit is a groundhog. We can't seem to catch him doing the actual crime, so we have reenacted the offense with a simulated groundhog.

Here is our simulated groundhog leaving his hole.

Here's our simulated groundhog attacking an innocent tomato.

Here's our simulated groundhog going out on a date.

Fortunately, he didn't get them all, and there's enough for everyone.

Here's our first summer tomato salad made with our own sweet tomatoes, cucumbers, and basil.

Recipe for tomato salad:

• 8-12 medium size tomatoes cut into bit size chunks
• 1 medium size cucumber sliced the way you like it
• 1 medium sweet onion sliced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 10 fresh picked leaves of basil torn into quarters
• 1 tbl. dried oregano
• drizzle a liberal amount of olive oil over the salad
• add salt and pepper to taste
• toss and serve with a crusty loaf of bread!

Enjoy!

- Chris