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 !!!!
