use real butter

Recipe: peach upside down cake

It would seem that everyone on the flats got word of the leaves turning and came in droves to the mountains over the weekend. Either that or they were looking for their final summer jaunt before the autumnal equinox arrives this Saturday. Bluebird skies and gold stands mark the start of my favorite season. We lose our daylight hours fastest this time of year.

cottonwoods gone yellow

sunsets don’t linger as long

We drove in the opposite direction from most of the traffic and joined my parents for dinner at our favorite sushi bar in Boulder. Fall is when they leave Colorado, because they aren’t big fans of winter. I think they had a nice summer here though, with all of the happy hours, exploring, dinners, lunches, visits, bottles of wine consumed, and Kaweah-time.

hamachili special

And the farmers market was abuzz with activity. People were looking to get their summer loving on, but it started to look like the season was winding down. At the northern end of the market, there was a sign where I normally bought my peaches, “Sold out! See you next year!” That was like a little knife in my gut.

greens, peppers, eggplants, onions…

and still some tomatoes

I promised if you came back today, I’d have something other than tomatoes. I did manage a few pounds of late season peaches from Colorado’s western slope. Sweet, juicy, almost buttery. Panic sets in when you realize these sunshiny orbs are on their way out for the year and a sudden urge to make yet another batch of jam overrides all reason. I did just that and still had a few pounds left over. It’s been a while since I’ve baked a cake…

peaches, butter, sugars, flour, milk, vanilla, eggs, baking soda, salt

There is an ever-growing list of recipes I want to make. I should say lists, because they reside on sticky notes – both virtual and physical, scraps of paper, notes on my iPhone, emails to myself. Fruity upside down cakes surfaced recently. They have great appeal because I’m more of a fruit girl than a cake girl and then there is that whole business of caramelized goodness. Why not use some of the last peaches?

melt the butter and brown sugar

cook until it bubbles

Something I learned about the peaches this summer was that different varieties marched through the markets. When I first got my grubby little hands on peaches for jamming in July, they were clingstone peaches. Good thing I was jamming them because it was like a peach murder scene trying to get those buggers off the pits. Thankfully, this late season batch was of the freestone variety – which easily releases from the pit and makes for pretty slices.

wonderful

arrange in the pan

**Jump for more butter**

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

**Jump for more butter**

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

**Jump for more butter**