We had a bounty of tomatoes at one point (not this year) and we cut them up and froze them. We even had cherry tomatoes coming out our ears in October and up to the first frost. Obviously more than we could eat, and people were starting to look at us funny when we'd bring yet another bag of tomatoes to church or to work.
So we spent a weekend cutting them up and freezing them. We knew we wanted to make sauce, but we didn't have the time. We also got peppers and cut them up. It seemed like we had "only a few" bags of each, but we had...several.
We made one batch. Today, Hubby thought we could squeeze in a second batch before I went off to teach. I set it up and started everything cooking.
Except I grabbed two bags of peppers and one of tomato. I meant to grab 2 tomatoes, 1 pepper. Hey, it all was yellow and red, and I couldn't really tell what was what. I mean, really - look at this stuff in my sink. I can tell some things, but not everything.
I cooked it all up like I was making spaghetti sauce, and all was well till I tasted it. WOWZA - lots of pepper in there. Mind you, sweet pepper, but pepper nonetheless. We're marking this as "Pizza Sauce" and the kids will get this and so will my mom. I don't like peppers. I like a bit of pepper. Not a lot.
There was a lot of fiddling to get the sauce to where I thought it was "edible." Hubby loves it. I do not.
The good new? I now have freezer space!
As you can see, it's a nice robust-looking sauce. I used Penzey's Tuscan Spice blend. It took quite a lot. Leeks. Ten cloves of garlic. Parsley from the garden (stole it from the caterpillar!), and a large stalk of Rosemary from the garden. Salt, pepper. 4 tablespoons of vegan broth powder to give it some oomph, and some lemon juice (recommended by the canning instructions). Then I tasted it.
And added about 3 tablespoons of coconut sugar to tame that acidic bite of the peppers. My dad used to use sugar in his sauce when needed. I hope the lemon juice still keeps it nice and bright.
It went into a water bath for 25 minutes, so I'm pretty sure it's nice and tight. But still too peppery... Come to think of it, I probably should have added a couple stalks of celery. That might have mitigated the pepper.
The First Soup of the Season happened yesterday...It was a chilly day and we thought soup would be good. Chicken with veggies, and I added a brown rice + quinoa mixture to it. The simple soup makes enough for 2 dinners. We've been trying to really cut down on what we're cooking. It's just the two of us and it's crazy to keep stuff in the freezer till we forget it's there.
You know the drill. We're used to cooking for a family, and then as we "empty the nest," we have a hard time changing those cooking habits to be more reasonable with our food. So anyway, I also made biscuits. They're sour cream + rosemary from the garden. They were pretty good. The sour cream kind of was a bit dense, but it worked out ok. I did a "drop biscuit" but I rolled them into balls and then slightly flattened them. They may have been less dense if I didn't handle them as much, but there you go.
So that was my first "meal of regular food." I'd been off rice, grains, dairy...trying to eat as cleanly as I could. Of course, I still didn't lose a pound, but I was trying to re-set my stomach. For the most part, it worked.
You'll be happy to know that my tummy is now where it belongs. No more 50-yard dash to the bathroom...
Knitting...
The Emergency One Day Hat has, so far, taken 3 days of solid knitting on that thing. I can see where it's a one-day hat if (a) you knit faster than I do; and (b) you have nothing else to do but knit that day. Unfortunately, I have a life. So the hat's taken a bit longer, but I'm ok with that. I'm not on a deadline, except for the mitts.
It's actually a bit farther along than this. This shot was this afternoon, before I taught my class. Now, I've got both rows of ridges, and I'm on the part just before I shape the crown.
I'll pick up the mitts this week and finish the last one off, then I'm done with that project.
I'm really liking the Encore yarn. I'm seriously jazzed with this, and it's my go-to baby yarn for afghans. This is the first hat I've made with it, and I think I may make another, just for stash. Or I'll knit up a couple of them, for Xmas for the kids. But then I have to knit 2 more for the young boys. Oy. This could be a project or a nightmare.
Or I could knit myself another hat - I'm pretty sure I can "biggen" this one up a bit. It's so far, super simple. I'm thinking of adding an I-cord "pom-pom" on top of this one. Don't know yet. We'll see when I get there.
I've got two projects pulled to do next: a scarf frogged (formerly in stash) which will be a prayer shawl, and I'm going to finish that hand-dyed scarf from the one worsted weight thing I have, the "Precious Metals" one. I'm nearly through the ball on that one, so I'd like to get it done as long as we're staring scarf-weather in the face.
Halloween gone to the dogs...
We haven't dressed the dogs yet, but that's coming this week. Late, but it is what it is. Anyway, Hubby asked me to go to Home Depot (I was running around anyway), and "get the wolves" he'd found. He RARELY asks for decorations; in fact, he puts up with my propensity to want to decorate the outside of the house, which means he does all the work.
I didn't find wolves. They were greyhounds. He's bummed because he wanted the wolves because, apparently, they howl. Like we don't have enough noise around here with three dogs in the first place?
I get it. And wolves - skeletal, red-light-eyed wolves - would've been majorly cool. But the greyhounds ain't bad. Except one of them is like our Quinn. Every. Bump. Made. It. Bark. Every single stop. Every single start... It was a noisy ride home. Here they are in the front bed. When you walk past them, their jaws snap, they "bark" and their eyes glow. In addition, you may notice the purple glass globes with witch hats on them. They actually are solar lights, and glow orange at night. We're not done yet. The ghosts are up, around the front and back yard, and we still have The Great Pumpkin, our skeletal owls and the skeletal flamingos.
Yes, I like Halloween. If I could, I'd dress up and hand out treats. But I'm working that day; though I did get the boss to let us dress up "as long as it's not too crazy." Yay!!!
Oh, and I got a raven! I'd be totally jazzed if it quoted Edgar Allen Poe. It does not.
But it does caw and move its head and it's got beady red eyes. And it says, "Are you sure you want to go in there??" I'll move the stake a little closer to the front door, so that the trick-or-treat gang can get the full effect. No, I'm not 12 years old. I just want a bit of levity. After this past week, when strong women I know have been either screaming in fury at their televisions, or curled up in a ball reliving the horrors that they themselves experienced while listening to another man-baby have a meltdown because he didn't get his way?
Oh, I'm sorry: a liar-man-baby who was groomed to take this seat on the Supreme Court and systematically reverse everything that Agent Orange and the Republican goons haven't yet overturned... That man-baby.
Sorry - I can barely watch his testimony. My father was a drunk. He finally saw the light and got into recovery, but that's another chapter in the novel. My point is, this dude is a functioning alcoholic. The rages. The inability to accept his part in anything negative. The fury and conspiracy theories...textbook, kids. Textbook.
So if I want to decorate my yard and kind of block it all out? Who's going to blame me.
Random Picture...
As we started the sauce, of course we needed a canine supervisor. Because, you know, a random bit of food might hit the floor. Regardless of the fact that she doesn't eat veggies of any kind, Raisa needed to make sure we did it up right.
Yes, in the walkway. Where every good Husky goes when they're watching for the safety of their humans.
Yes, when the stick blender was activated, she was singing. Singing the song of her people...
Crazy dog.
How about you? How was your weekend? Do anything fun?
I'd love to chat with you about what you're reading; what you're crafting; what's going on with you. Join me!
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