So if April showers bring May flowers, what do September showers bring?
Do they bring out the kid in all of us?
Or just an end to the gardening season? Things are certainly starting to die down. This year we grew big tomatoes ("Better Big Boy"), cherry tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, yellow onions, cucumbers, zucchini and cantaloupes. Next year, we'll dispense with the broccoli (bug infested) and try growing potatoes and pumpkins. Hopefully the strawberries will give us fruit too.
This was one day's harvest a couple weeks ago. We picked delicious fresh veggies every week. We had so many veggies we couldn't give them away fast enough...
...so we canned again this summer. No, I didn't grow peaches this year, but I got some at Allred's near BYU and canned about 30 quarts. I made 14 cups of freezer jam, and even tried making pickles this year with all of our cucumbers (thumbs up from Thunder!). I also tried my my hand at making Zucchini Salsa with a hint of Lime, which I found here (it's my old NY neighbor's fave).
And just like last year, I made spaghetti sauce this year. We love this stuff! I've made a couple big batches. One batch has ground beef added, the other has frozen meatballs.
These are some trusty tomatoes waiting in the sink to be skinned, after being blanched in boiling water for 1 minute. After
After squeezing the tomatoes over a strainer, simmer them over low heat for 2-3 hours. Add a few more things, then freeze in Ziplock bags, and that's about it! Here is our recipe for this year:
20-30 tomatoes
2 very small onions
1 C. shredded zucchini
3-4 cloves garlic
basil, parsley, oregano to taste
1/2 C. chopped mushrooms
2 cans tomato paste
1 packet spaghetti seasoning
2 lb. ground beef, browned OR 1 bag frozen meatballs
1. Blanch tomatoes, remove skins
2. Remove stems, cut in half and squeeze out seeds/juice
3. Place onions, zucchini and garlic in food processor (Thunder does not like texture of onions), then place these in a pot with the tomatoes and spices
4. Let simmer for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally
5. Add mushrooms, tomato paste and seasoning packet; simmer for a 1/2 hour
6. Add ground beef OR meatballs, allow to cool slightly
7. Freeze in quart freezer bags, filled with 2 to 2 1/2 C sauce
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2 comments:
So jealous of your cool weather...it is way too hot here. I can't wait to grow a garden one day. It's just to much work in our little patio with little neighbor kids and such. One day. All your food looked sooo good.
We had so many tomatos this year and I ended up giving so many of them away because I was to chicken to try canning them. Next year you'll have to teach me so I can put my garden to better use!
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