Actually, make that 10 quarts of tomato puree. You know how one step of a recipe can take an hour and a half? Well, this one INGREDIENT took an hour and a half.
I decided to try my hand at tomato sauce. Good thing I had all afternoon, because I pulled the last jar out of the canner at 10:00 pm. Granted I wasn't slaving at the stove all afternoon, but it still was a very long process. Part of that time was spent sorting out good tomatoes from nasty, black and hairy tomatoes, and scrubbing the tomato carnage from the fruit room floor.
A few months ago, the CSA I subscribe to sent out an email saying that they were making bushels of tomatoes and peaches available to their members. A few months ago, processing a bushel of tomatoes and a bushel of peaches sounded like a good idea, so I ordered one of each. I didn't know exactly when they would arrive, but I assumed that they would come on different weeks. I had also assumed that I would have time to do something with them when they got here.
Last Tuesday, I went to pick up my CSA share at Beehive Cheese. I had a big cooler in the car with ice packs, because my box of produce was going to be sitting in my car for 3 hours while I went to my night class at WSU. I walked in to pick up my food box and discovered not 1, but 3 boxes with my name on them. On closer inspection, I found I had a box of produce, a box of peaches and a box of tomatoes. After a moment of panic, the nice folks at Beehive Cheese told me they were planning on staying late that night to make cheese, and that it would be okay for me to keep the boxes in their fridge until my class got out. They didn't have to do that--they even gave me a cell phone number so I could call someone to open the door for me when I got there.
I've bought bushels of produce from other places, and typically, the peaches are rock hard for a few days until they ripen in the basement. These peaches and tomatoes were ready. On Tuesday. I wasn't. I parked them in the fruit room downstairs and crossed my fingers. Apparently, I didn't cross them hard enough. I had quite the mess I had to clean up yesterday. Dang! I was able to salvage a good part of it, but I always feel bad when food gets wasted like that.
So--it's Sunday morning and I have a nice little set of jars of tomato sauce sitting out. I would have taken a picture, except the battery in my camera died. I might try tomato sauce again. We'll see.
Ryan is trying his hand at constructing a bigger and better chicken coop. I went outside after I finished with the tomatoes to see his handiwork. It is going to be a very tall coop. Should be interesting to see what it looks like when it's done. =)
*My sister in-law coined the phrase "juice of three lambs" to refer to things called for in a recipe that no normal person would actually have in her kitchen. Lots of recipes from Martha Stewart fall into this category.
I stand corrected--that was my mother in-law who coined the phrase. Sorry, Linda! =)
4 comments:
The first thing I learned in dealing with tomatoes is to cook them way down, way beyond what you'd think, before you puree them with an immersion blender. Otherwise, the splatters will keep you cleaning for a week! Alan's mom gave me an "asparagus pot" for Christmas that's tall and has a lift out basket that's perfect for blanching tomatoes. It's one of those nifty gadgets that I only use a couple times a year, but it pulls enough weight that it's worth the space.
We LOVE Beehive Cheese...do they do tours?
Those people at the Beehive Cheese make a nice cheddar. Very good stuff. I believe they have one rubbed with coffee which I didn't particularly care for, but it might grow on me. I would love to take the kids up there if they would allow us to tour and show the kids how cheese is made. That would rock.
How did I get this shout out?! That was actually coined by Linda but I will take the credit because she thought it was hilarious! Great post.
I thought it was you! Maybe it's because you cook so many things (or at least have recipes for so many things) that call for the juice of three lambs. How funny!
BTW, if anyone is interested, Beehive Cheese DOES give tours. If you are interested, you can call them at 801-476-0900. They don't make cheese every day so you need to call first. They also warn that you might get put to work if you come.
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