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Recipe: tomato sauce (canning)

See that? THAT is my litmus stand of aspens. When it turns, it’s nearly time for me to hit the road. Thing is, it’s early this year by about ten days. So I’m scrambling to finish a ton of work before I head out into the golden yonder for the fall shoot. It’s like having dinner guests show up early when you aren’t ready to receive them. Thanks for that, Nature!

despite the push in schedule, the colors are lookin’ good

As promised, I’ve got another (a last) tomato recipe for you. Folks were asking about it and I have been doing it – canning tomato sauce. Next to diced tomatoes, I go through a good bit of tomato sauce in the winter months (October through May). There are so many ways you could make your tomato sauce, but I found Marisa‘s recipe to be the best for my preferences. I like a smooth, even, and slightly thickened sauce. The one thing I really recommend getting your hands on is a food mill of some sort. Borrow one if you must, but get a food mill.

start with lots of lovely tomatoes, duh!

and bottled lemon juice

Just like the diced tomatoes, the only ingredients you need are tomatoes and bottled lemon juice. Yes, bottled lemon juice. I prefer fresh squeezed lemon juice over bottled any day except this day. This day, we fight! No wait… this day we use bottled lemon juice because it has a consistent acidity level which you want so you can avoid things like botulism. Do that.

stem the tomatoes

dice the tomatoes

The nice thing about tomato sauce is that you don’t have to core the tomatoes like you do for diced tomatoes. Nor do you have to peel them like you would when canning diced tomatoes. It’s terrific and it goes quickly. Marisa’s instructions have you dice a handful of tomatoes and place them in a stock pot to boil while you crush them with a spoon. I use a potato masher because it gets my aggressions out better. The crushing also helps to keep the sauce from separating into liquids and solids in the jars. Add some more diced tomatoes and keep crushing until all of the tomatoes are done.

i crush you

bring it to a boil

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Recipe: diced tomatoes (canning)

More tomatoes? Yes, yes dammit. MOAR TOMATOES. What on earth did you think was going to happen with 77 pounds of tomatoes? We’re not kidding around here, because you know… winter is coming.

rain, mist, and temps in the 40s off my deck

Reports began to stream in Wednesday morning from the local Colorado ski hills – snow. A lovely dusting of white on the high peaks in some places with up to ten inches predicted for other places. Of course, the sun will return and the air will warm again, but the skiers and riders and general winter enthusiasts are rejoicing and hoping for a good (read: powdery) winter. Meanwhile, my parents are preparing to migrate back to warmer climes soon, so we met up for a delightful dinner at The Kitchen Upstairs.

my parents dig the boulder food scene

what’s left of the appetizers, because we ate them up

black pepper gnocchi with prosciutto and roasted plums

lamb meatballs on creamy polenta

pappardelle with pork

Unlike some places that continue to act like summer well into autumn, Colorado understands that it is time to move on. The fall colors are rolling about a week ahead of schedule and it’s crunch time for me – trying to can as much of the remaining summer produce as possible before I hit the road for the fall shoot. I feel like one of those pika in the mountains, scurrying about gathering foods for the winter. Ever read the book Frederick by Leo Lionni? It’s about a little mouse who sits in the sun all day while the rest of the mice are busy building stores for winter. Everyone is like, “Dude, you so lazy!” But come winter, Frederick unleashes his talent for awesome and everyone is all, “I totally get why you were such a slacker this summer!” I am not Frederick. I’m the other mice.

mice activities

I met up with a couple of my gal pals, Wendy and Ellen of Helliemae’s Salt Caramels, for a massive tomato canning session at the Helliemae’s kitchen in Denver this week. You know you have good friends when they allow you to go all OCD on them in the kitchen. We processed almost 60 pounds of tomatoes for dice and sauce. So yeah, you get another tomato recipe because I’m seeing tomatoes in my sleep right now. It is tomato-fest. There will be more too, so if you’re a ‘mater-hater, then just come back on Monday…

organic slicing tomatoes (seconds)

some bottled lemon juice

and beautiful weck jars

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Recipe: jennie’s tomato jam

Autumn arrived in the mountains this weekend despite the hot temperatures down on the flats. I am absolutely fine with this. There are so many pluses to this time of year! There are signs that the leaves have begun to turn. Actually, the leaves are about a week early which seems to be the schedule for all plants this season (some fruits were up to a month early). It’s just a few rogue branches as more than 99% of the aspens around here are still green, but this is how it all starts.

and there it is (iphone)

Kaweah is digging the cool down too, because it means we don’t have to walk her before sunrise or after sunset anymore (summer is just too hot for this old dog). She enjoys leisurely strolls at all times of the day now and it shows in her springy step.

on the move! (iphone)

The other day, Jeremy and I dropped by Salto Coffee Works (in our little mountain town of Nederland) to find the outdoor fireplace in use with many a happy local gathered around it. We were there to grab a quick bite and to say hi to our friends from Pica’s in Boulder, who were running a pop-up at Salto, serving tacos on the patio while a bluegrass band performed inside.

trent prepares our pork belly tacos

a lovely evening with pica’s taqueria and salto coffee works

keeping warm at the fireplace

little paloma digs on the chips and guac!

Knowing Trent was going to be there, I brought some goodies from my kitchen to share with him and Zoey, including some tomato jam I had just made. Having heard so many raves about Jennie’s sweet and savory tomato jam from mutual friends over the years, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on several pounds of tomato seconds and find the time to try it! This is the magical time when vegetable harvests are in full swing down on the flats, but it’s chilly enough up at my house that spending hours cooking jam and canning it feels cozy rather than oppressively hot. Zoey later wrote to say she loved the jam, but couldn’t find the recipe on the blog. Well, that’s because I hadn’t blogged it yet – but here it is for Zoey and for the rest of you! This is a heavenly, delightful jam that you will want to both covet for yourself and share with your friends and family and probably even strangers.

glorious tomatoes

onions, green apples, sugar, brown sugar, cider vinegar, tomatoes, lemon, spices, salt

As I mentioned when I first started jamming/canning earlier this summer, I am I big fan of seconds. I swung by Cure Organic Farm in Boulder last week to see what tomatoes I could get from their farm stand. I walked away with 15 pounds of tomato seconds – some bruised, most imperfect, all of them fantastically sweet, ripe, and wonderful. $1.75 a pound for luscious, organic tomatoes? Did I mention that I went back to purchase another 77 pounds? Yep, I did that.

dice

all chopped up

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