Roasted tomato sauce

We have a school garden right outside of the art room, and it is a cool thing as far as I am concerned.  I have been watching it this September and spied some pretty nice tomatoes out there.  When no one had picked many of them right before that first heavy frost of the season, I decided to do something about it.  We were all over that- I wish I had a pic of little Greggy picking tomatoes with us.  But I don't, so you just have to use your imagination.

The Mad-Science teacher did some research and told me about this roasted tomato sauce.  It basically involves tomatoes, a few aromatics and some herbs/salt/pepper.

The process is simple: choose the size of pan according to the amount of tomatoes you have.  I really didn't have that many, so I used a cake pan....  Some of us were able to use a turkey roasting pan because we have so many tomatoes.....  That will be me next year.  Plans are being made.  Anywho,  after you core and maybe if you are feeling ambitious, cut up the tomatoes, add in a chopped onion, a handful of partially smushed and completely peeled garlics, a pour of olive oil and a bunch of fresh basil.

Spray Pam on the pan!!  

I used a combo of full size and cherry tomatoes- these tomatoes were so sweet that the sauce is pretty sweet too!  Bake the veggies for about 3 hours at 375.  Or until the water has pretty much cooked out and reduced to a thick sauce.  

Still needs some reducing- I put salt and pepper on  it at about this point

After it has cooked down, you can remove some of the skins.  I probably took out half of them, but you really don't notice.  You can also use a food processor or immersion blender and make the sauce smooth if you want, but that isn't what I care to do.  I like it less processed.  When you stir it up the garlic and onion sort of melts.  

This is the chilled and finished sauce

As I said above, the sauce was sweet, so I put a little chopped kalamata olive in it when I reheated it, which added a salty and tangy note to it.  This would probably be less sweet with more traditional tomatoes, but I used the heritage tomatoes that were in the garden.  A super dark paste type and a few very dark (maybe Cherokee purple??) larger tomatoes and a whole bunch of yellow sungold cherry tomatoes.  Goodness!  You could throw in some fresh thyme or oregano too- and maybe a little bit of cayenne???

Pasta, the sauce with olives and some parmesan

It has been discussed that we could saute a bunch of veggies (peppers, zucchini, carrots, broccoli) and throw those in there as well.....  could add lots of things.  ALSO, Laurie freezes hers in bags, so they stack flat.  This was truly one of the best things I have eaten all summer.  Well, all fall too I guess.  Oh summer, come back to me....  that will be for the next post, though.

This is some serious good!  And it gave me a whole lot of joy!

Oh Christmas tree, oh tediouschristmas tree

It seemed like a good idea at the time!  I received a COOL picture from a friend of mine, who totally knows my thought process apparently, of a Christmas tree that is made of broccoli and other vegetables.  It hit a chord in many ways..... a. it's Christmas for heavens sakes, deck the halls and hohoho.  2. It is vegetable, which of course is my gig now.  Next. I like the visual translation of the whole thing- it is artsy in a Trompe l'oil sort of a way. and e. I usually wimp out for Potlucks and just buy a veggie tray, so here it is people.  This is the best I can do!  AND btw, it was a very good idea and it turned out pretty cool!!

And yes I pinned it on Pinterest and will pin the puppy onto my board later, when I have a "free moment"  HAHAHAHAHAHA  as if.

So to start this process, I bought some veggies and then I went back and bought more the next day.  THIS was a wise decision on my part.

Shopping list:

Broccoli

Green Cauliflower

carrots

yellow and red pepper

cherry tomatos

foam cone

toothpicks

dip or hummus

**THANK you Susie Daniels for providing me with the cone!!  YOU are awesome!!

As I was cutting up the veggies last night, I decided it would be best to assemble them in the morning so they wouldn't get soggy or limp.  So GUESS WHAT I did at 4:30 am??!!!

I began at the bottom of the cone and put in sort of like rows of the 2 green veggies.  NOTE: if you do this, put the toothpicks IN the base first. Not in the broccoli.  AND trim down the stems a bit.  You will thank me for this advice!  You're welcome!!

Oh, look, I can focus a camera at 4:45!

So fill the tree with green and then go back and try not to curse as you fill in the holes that you missed before you actually woke up for the day......  Those are unpleasant words to use at Christmas time any way.

Prepare to decorate the tree!  Enter cherry tomatoes, peppers and carrot pieces:

Begin the garland with pepper strips...

Add the ornaments......

Add a star!!

And done- only about 2 hours of time and no Art teachers were harmed during this event...... Well, my fingers are sore from the toothpicks, but that is a small sacrifice.  

And so I hope this gives my lovely colleagues in the High School a lot of joy!  :)

Mad Gardener awakens!

This was upsetting!

She has been in hibernation for the last several months, but the gardener in me has stirred.  It might be the warmer weather, the arrival of my seed packets or the thunder that woke me up this morning.  Whatever it is, the itch to get dirty (stop it)  is upon me!  Rumor has it that spring starts today, you couldn't have proved it this morning by looking outside, that was a nasty surprise to wake up to.  One would have thought with the window rattling thunder that it would not look like this when I peered outside.  Funny, I didn't remember there being that much snow on the ground!

So I celebrated spring's imminent arrival with planting tomato and pepper seeds.  Oh, how I love it, love it, love it!!

This is what I start off with, plain plastic containers with potting soil.  The soil has been absorbing water for a while, since it is hard to wet potting soil when it is dusty dry.  It needs to sit and adjust to it's new, soggier surroundings.

I love choosing my tomatoes for the year.  I adore all the nifty names and beautiful colors.... I have grown the Wapsiconin Peach tomato before.  It is fuzzy like a peach- cute- and a pale yellow color- pretty small, almost a cherry sized 'mato.  The other one- Hillbilly Potato Leaf is new to me.  It is a big yellow slicing tomato. 

I have grown both the Brown Berry and the Wisconsin 55.  Wisconsin 55 is a short day medium sized tomato that grows really well up here, and usually is the first one to produce fruit.  The Brown Berry is beautiful dark red cherry tomato and is gorgeous when you grow it  (and eat it!)  with bright red and yellow cherry tomatoes.  I also planted my favorite Brandywine tomato and a beautiful yellow, Moonglow. mmmmm MMMMM!

One seed at a time

Here are the little potential BLT ingredients nestled down in the dirt, all I have to do from here is press them down and cover them with a little soil.

Add little water...

warming mat

Add a little water if needed - here I had to fill in a few of the cells with a little potting mix- cover and place on the warmer mats

A very  important thing I have found is to write down the information you need to remember instead of relying on your (my imperfect) memory.  Even if it seems obvious that the right-hand cell tray in the front has the Pink Brandywine tomatoes and the back 2 trays has all the cherry tomatoes, that information won't be so obvious when you are ready to transplant your babies into bigger containers.  Does it sound like experience talking???  Mmmmm- hmm.

Here is some of the rest of my stash.  I have a packet of giant Nicotiana, the best smelling flower, ever!, that I will plant next weekend.  I will be putting the flowers into largish peat pots, so they don't have to be transplanted.  The peat pots dry out really fast, so I will plant them next weekend, because a week from Monday I will have a lot more time in my schedule!!  I have never tried the castor bean plant before, so it's planting date is yet to be determined.  Also shown are a whole slew of yummy things that need to be planted outdoors in a few weeks, like sweet Chiogga beets and spicy Thai basil.  Oh, I am getting hungry now!

To celebrate the possibilities that spring holds, I would like to include my recipe for fresh tomato soup.  In late summer when there is a gazillion tomatoes, I take a bunch of extras, wash them up well, core them and pop them into plastic bags.  I use the kind that you can suck the air out of with a special tool- that really keeps the tomatoes from getting freezer burned.  Then you can use them for all sorts of things. When you open them up, especially if they have thawed somewhat, you will be flown right back to summer with the fresh smell of home grown tomatoes.

Fresh Tomato Soup

Saute:
2 cups sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1 small chopped onion
1/2 c. green (or red sweet) pepper
1/4 cup butter (I use 2 - 3 Tablespoons olive oil)
Stir frequently, until veggies are soft- about 15 minutes.

Add:
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups diced tomatoes
2 tsp. sugar (add more or less depending on your taste and the flavor of the tomatoes)
1/2 tsp. curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Heat for 10 minutes, on medium low.

Mix 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup of flour.  Add to soup, heat until thickened.  Freezes well.

From this recipe you can add what you would like- any veggies that you have on hand (not sure about strong flavors like broccoli), or a grain such as rice or barley.

So keep thinking spring, to keep from going completely mad!

Until next time, be a joy giver.  Share your smiles.

If you are interested in gardening, I belong to a garden forum called Sprout-off.  It is comprised of a wonderful, funny, generous group of gardeners who are thrilled to share their knowledge and antics with all of us.  Most of the gardeners have been at it for many, many years, but they are always up for finding out new things and sharing experiences.  Take a look!  You can enter as a guest or register.  I have been a member for 4 or 5 years.

Sprout-off Garden forum