canning roasted tomato paste or pizza sauce

Gnarly, tasty Brandywines!

Here's the process in photos:

 

(Getting bubbles out)

Use a very clean rag, make sure top is clean.

Process in boiling water for 40 minutes

any questions?  :0)

Okay, the answer is:

Pizza sauce / sweet tomato paste:

1) Put raw tomatoes into a large pot of boiling water for about 3 minutes, or until skins start to crack

2) Take em out and place in a big bowl of cold water. Then slip the skins off and allow to drain.

3) place on a cookie sheet with some peeled cloves of garlic and in the oven @450 for 30 min

4) Place in blender with:  Oregano, salt and Dates (these makes the sauce).

5) For canning or to reduce further, place in a pot on medium, cook until desired thickness.

I have no measurements, sorry! Use your judgement. Approximately one date per 1/2 pint.

This is a VERY tasty pizza sauce!  Fridays are going to be pizza night here because of this...  



Here is a good post about what to do with all the tomatoes that we can find ourselves with
at this time of year...

gardening art and a blessing from the red tent.

This picture seems timely!

Its a journal entry from somewhere in 2007.

Almost passed timely I guess because apparently tomorrow I have to rip out the garden 

to save the goods from frost...

This beautyful blessing from a beautyful book called the Red Tent by Anita Diamant:

If you haven't read it, get off the computer right now and go find it.
Especially if you are a woman.

For more journal entries:

If you are moved to photograph a page from your journal (present or past)  PLEASe do so!! and leave the link here!  

:0)



blessings on your eyes.
you are dearly loved

{this moment}

I am joining Soulemama for 

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

double kid swing session

Glorious days!

Juicing from the Garden - with the toddler!

Today's presents from the garden

Still lots of cucumbers  which are perfect in juice when we have too many!

They just give so so much juice.

Note the heirloom purple dragon carrots!

fun and very tasty!

 heirloom Bassano beets

I almost thought I'd mistaken and planted turnips there...

 but they are sweet like a beet!

Sweet morning smiles!!

 I'm glad we also planted regular beets cuz I really like the purple juice they make!

Beets are a good liver tonic, but only use one or two in a juice. 

bringin in the treasures!

Attie loves helping make juice.
Right from harvesting the veggies to pouring the finished juice into her cup.

I love doing it with her.

 Its fun, she's fully capable and then there's no kid whining at your knees... 

and it helps with her loving to drink it too   :0)

My personal Juicing tips:

- Apples and carrots are necessary
- beets make a good color
- add something green for health
- cucumbers + watermelon give loads of juice
- juice gets your insides moving. like Now.

clean up
- do it immediately after - makes it MUch easier.
- or at least rinse everything out asap.
- pour the juice  (thru a sieve if preferred) into another vessel and wash out the juice catcher immediately
- I scrape all the produce mush into the mush catcher and then fill it with water for the compost, which needs water anyways and makes it easier to clean the mush catcher!

and most of all:



** put ice in your juice!

yummm and health!




Do you have any essential juicing tips?

garden

wow already!

Well, here's what the garden is giving these days:

These zinnias have been brightening my days!

 Here's a massive pumpkin that I Just noticed the other day!  That's what you get when the pumpkin grows in an old composted manure spot!

I'd been waiting all summer to harvest this garlic that my uncle Jim had been saving for years.  

We almost had none cuz I forgot where I planted them last fall and we rototilled over them!!  

Now we have just enough to plant.  3rd week in September.

 Gad ZUCHS.

my measly little saskatch watermelon!

purple dragons in the middle (heirloom)

 Big old Brandywine Tomato

 Gray's Sweet cherry tomato.

Aren't they so pretty!  They grow in Raimbows!!

a butternut and a spaghetti squash. 

growing under a bunch of sunflowers for shade, seemed to work well!

 Doesnt look like much yet, but I am excited for my new comfrey patch!

I hope it just goes nuts next year!  cuz its grreat for the compost.

 Potatoes growing in rotted alfalfa hay...

 I'll let you know how this experiment pans out.

One thing I know is that it needs lots of water.

Whether or not it turns out, it will make a great new garden bed for next year!

Chasing Rio hoping to brush her!  Good luck Attie... 

She is old, but she can speed walk faster than you can run!!

zuch time!

At first there weren't many and I was worried I planted my zuch's to close together... 

but now they are all producing.

tiny zuchinnis turn massive overnight. 

Kind of like finding a wood tick in your dog's ear - all of a sudden there's this Huge thing sitting there!  (haha - sorry for the really gross analogy) 

Didn't think we'd be able to keep on top of them, but we are! and its so exciting!

 

My niece came to visit, she's totally interested in self sufficiency and gardening.

So she was pumped to help me grate these suckers down into edible packages in various stages of cooked and stored product.

She made this gorgeous Chocolate Zuchinni cake.

I'm not going to post the recipe we used, but there are plenty in your cookbooks at home and online!

Lets just say that Dark chocolate chips make it even more scrumptious.

We froze a whole bunch of grated zuch into 2 cup portions 

for all kinds of recipes to be made in mid winter.

Our family has been eating zuchinni in all meals.  I have mastered Zuchinni parmesan.

A big bowl of grated zuchinni in the fridge never did anyone any harm, 

just throw it into any and all meals you are cooking!  

fry up some Zuch with onions and garlic to be blended with tomatoes and added to your canned tomato soup - SO good.

zucchini omelet

zucchini in grilled cheese samwiches

Juiced zucchini

zuchinni smoothies (its a joke, don't try it.)

here's my new baby with her friend.  she was not interested in documenting the garden produce.

she was interested in more milkies and less sun shinning in her face...

and here's a post with Atlin lying beside a huge zuch a couple years ago