It is definitely tomato season here!!!! Last year I planted 3 tomato plants and got a grand total of 5 tomatoes. This year I moved their spot and planted about 7 plants. I love tomatoes . I have tomatoes. Hundreds of tomatoes. All at once!!! I am not much of a cannier and have gotten food poisoning from tomato sauce so the thought of putting them up is not too enticing. I got a wild hair and decided to make homemade Marinara . I definitely needed a small break from work and it sounded fun!
I started out with the ingredients of this tote plus a small eggplant I picked yesterday. I am proud of my garden this year. Lots of yummy vegetables. Bag on desk I hopped on the computer to find a Marinara recipe. What a joke!!! Most of the fresh tomato homemade recipes included a can of tomato paste. Now why would I need that ? You must know that until I was 30 years old all I knew about cooking was making broiled chicken and Minute Rice. I was a career girl. I printed out what I could find and went inside to consult the ladies.
Yes these ladies. Betty Crocker and Julia Childs. This is the sum total of my cookbooks. I have had the Betty Crocker book for 30 years .My Mom gave it to me when I got my first place. Betty has been my cooking mentor for years. I did not clean her up for the picture. The loose pages and filthy cover is what makes her my old friend. You should see my Mothers. Julia I got in a box of books at an auction. I kept her in hopes I might make gourmet food some day . I haven't.
Imagine my surprise when I could not find a Marinara recipe in either one!!!! My stress level began to build. I decided to tackle the one project I knew needed to be done . Peeling the tomatoes. The thought of peeling tomatoes did overwhelm me. Yes I have peeled Green Chiles, but tomatoes ? I dove right in. I was amazed. Tomato peeling proved to be extremely easy and lots of fun. I do need to get a life. I missed you Erin you would have loved peeling tomatoes too.
Then came time to deseed the tomatoes. Can we say Ragu? At this point I was having a grand old time but an understanding of why people buy Ragu started to grow. I was beginning to make peace with my lack of perfect Marinara recipe. Maybe it was so simple you kind of needed to wing it. Wing it I did.
As I was chopping my wonderful bounty I began to fantasize about being self sustaining. The process of making my way in a modern world on my little 1/2 acre was enticing. I could Blog about all that I had learned and endured. My husband loves End of the world Sci Fi fantasy books . Maybe he could join in and we could do this life changing process together. I fantasize alot. I guess that's why I like to blog. Sometimes the thoughts just need to leave my head. It gets crowded in there. Anyways back to my Marinara.
So I stuck it all in a pot together and just let it simmer, and simmer, and simmer. Cant you just smell it thru the computer? I can. My house had the most delicious smell .
Viola!!! Marinara and Penne Pasta!!!! I will say it was the best marinara I have ever tasted. I was beyond proud of my self. Even have enough to freeze some for later. Hmmm maybe this self sustaining thing could be done..... That's when my Husband came home with a surprise for my homemade Marinara dinner....
Screw self sustainability !!!!
that looks wonderful! and to think you used to be the queen of instant mashed potatoes and rough pork chops!
ReplyDeletemama mia that was a good pasta
ReplyDeleteDid you write down your marinara recipe for future reference? If you are like me I just start adding stuff, and don't really know how much, so if I ever want to reproduce the darn recipe, I am at a loss. Keep up the good work. You can freeze tomatoes and use them later, they say, I never have done it but my more domestic friends do and they use them throughout the year. I don't have a freezer other than the one on my refrigerator so don't have room to putt little red round things out to freeze and then put them in bags. I would like to try some sun dried tomatoes, all the fancy recipes have sun dried tomatoes. Maybe that is what you could do with some of your bounty. Well bye for now. Glad to see you blogged. It was good. Off to the Home Depot to see about new windows for the house, and then we are going to wander through the new antique store in Lawrence. Talk to you later. Good luck on your second etsy store. I will look it up when I get time. Love gloriadee
ReplyDeleteActually Gloria I still only have one. Any more stores and i am likely to have a nervous breakdown!!!
ReplyDeleteWell Gloria I guess I do have another Etsy!!! Erik has decided to open one for Rockobilia. Selling record supplies and old cheesecake record covers!! Nervous breakdown here I come!!!
ReplyDeleteYumola for the marinara sauce...and the brewski. Now that you know you can make marinara at home, perhaps give home brewing a shot!
ReplyDeleteI am so proud of you!!! Especially to go through the trouble to deseed and everything! And to simmer simmer simmer!! It looks delicious, and I love the idea of self-sustainability. If anyone could do it it's you! Although, I must agree with your conclusion.
ReplyDelete