Diary of a Summer Food Processor

I don't hear the question as often as I used to, but, invariably, it still pops up when I encounter someone from my former public school educator life:  Don't you get bored?  I have learned to smile and ignore the insensitivity of the questioner.  Bored is not a word often found in the typical gardener's vocabulary.  Take today, for example. . .

Freezing roasted tomato sauce makes a great winter "fast food"

Actually, today's schedule was set in motion with yesterday's activities.  Since late morning temperatures were already soaring, I decided to pick squash as soon as I gathered baskets, clippers and a long sleeved shirt to protect my arms from scratchy leaves.  After harvesting about fifty pounds of beautiful summer cucurbits, I noticed tomatoes ripening and after a brief, joyful moment, I picked until I filled all the baskets and pails I had.  Roughly estimating the harvest at about thirty pounds, I loaded the fruit in my vehicle and hurried to pick some beans, peppers, Whippoorwill peas, corn and okra.  Although the GroundHOG ate most of the okra crop, there were a few nice pods to cut.  When I pulled out of the field, I noted the temperature gauge registered ninety-four degrees.  No shade.

This morning, with a kitchen full of baskets, pails and bowls of washed fruit and veg, I turned up the music and made a list for the day's work.  

• String and break beans
• Shell peas
• Blanch, peel and quarter tomatoes
• Slice okra
• Chop onions, squash
• Peel and chop carrots
• Scrub and cut potatoes  
• Cook and can vegetable soup base
• Shuck corn, cut kernels from cobs and freeze
• Slice remaining okra and freeze
• Pack 2 1/2 gallon jars with cherry tomatoes, peppers, garlic and herbs, add pickling solution and store in fridge
• Blanch, peel and pack jars with paste tomatoes (Cream Sausage, San Marzano, Japanese Plum and Amish Paste)
• Can tomatoes
• Make 4 large pans of roasted tomato sauce, use immersion blender to process and freeze in 2 cup increments
• Look at the squash.  Think about who might like to have them.  Make plans to deliver.  

 

2015: The Year of the Squash at Heart & Sole Gardens

Add a few errands, a couple of loads of laundry and a trip to the grocery and it is easy to see why I am pretty wiped out tonight.  Bored?  I think not.

 Easy Peasy Pickling

Cherry tomatoes are one of the garden's greatest gifts, but they can be overwhelming when they ripen abundantly.  Try this recipe to preserve their beauty and balance the inherent sweetness with a tart pickling solution.  After a few weeks, enjoy them as a special treat with a smear of goat or cream cheese on a cracker or crostini or just eat them from the jar.  

Pickling Solution
2 cups white vinegar
1 3/4 cup water
4 ounces kosher salt (not iodized)
Stir water, salt and vinegar over low heat until salt dissolves

2 pounds fresh cherry tomatoes, washed and stems removed
2-3 stems fresh basil
2 sprigs fresh oregano
1 large clove garlic
2 jalapeno peppers, sliced lengthwise (other hot peppers will work)
1 sweet pepper sliced lengthwise (Jimmy Nardello, Banana, etc.)

In a large glass jar, pack garlic, tomatoes and slide peppers, cut side out, between tomatoes and glass.  Place herbs attractively against the glass and pack tomatoes to hold them in place.  When the jar is tightly packed, add hot pickling solution until the tomatoes are covered.  Place tight lid on jar and store in refrigerator.  After a couple of weeks, tomatoes will be pickled and can be used for months.  Pickling flavor will intensify with time.  

Half gallon glass jars of pickled cherry tomatoes