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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: 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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Recipe: heirloom tomato and corn salad

It’s good to be back in Colorado. It’s good to be home. I had a lovely and exhausting working trip in Maine last week and will write that up for you shortly. I know some people think these trips are vacations, but 1) I never relax and 2) I never relax. You knew this, right? Right! Now that I no longer feel like everything around me is rocking back and forth, I’m trying to get back into the groove over here. Kaweah was super waggy to see me again, sniffing my bags and my pants to figure out where I’d been. It was nice to cuddle my pup, hug my guy, and sleep more than 5 hours (in my own bed!).

kaweah hanging out in the yard

the house got a new stain while i was away

It is now officially September, The Month of Awesome. Awesome for so so so many reasons that I can’t even list them all here. Awesome because we still get the last dribbles of summer splendor in the markets. Awesome because the light and the weather has changed subtly. Awesome because our leaves will turn at the end of the month. Awesome for the birthdays, and the crisp cool nights, and the smell of fireplace smoke on the air, the stillness, the arrival of my favoritest season ever: autumn, which sounds a lot like awesome. So yeah, there’s all of that and more. But I won’t shock you with apple cider and pumpkins just yet. We’re going to milk summer for all it is worth. I’m talking tomatoes.

heirloom tomatoes, corn, and basil

I hope you aren’t sick of tomatoes by now, because I am never ever ever sick of tomatoes… EVER. Aside from eating tomatoes straight up like you would an apple, another way I’ve been enjoying them this summer is in a non-lettuce salad. It takes no time to prepare and it is fabulous enough to serve to dinner guests. The corn could be optional, but I can’t resist those sweet ears as the season winds down. You could serve the corn raw, but I like to either give it a quick nuke in the microwave (30 seconds) or a blanch in boiling water.

cut the kernels off the cob

slice the tomatoes

Slice your tomatoes however you see fit – wedges, rounds, chunks – it’s ALL good. Personally, I’m a fan of the shape that can easily fit into your mouth. Then chuck them into a bowl or arrange them on a plate or platter, drizzle some balsamic vinegar, some olive oil, and sprinkle the corn on top.

arrange the tomatoes

drizzle olive oil

add the corn

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