First, a picture of REAL food. Okay, I know it's an ugly picure, but it tasted like heaven. Believe me. This is a tomato grown from Monroe farms, smeared Seville-style on Bread from the Denver Bread company. drizzle with Olive oil. sprinkle with salt. Y-u-m.
So the tomatoes are in, and I got to go out to Monroe Farms and pick a couple of boxes to put up for the winter. When I got there, I realized they were also letting us pick green chiles, and then firing up the roaster to roast them. So of course, I picked a huge flat of those, then they were roasted and then sealed in a huge plastic bag to sweat and cool (I think this is the trick if you have some you're trying at home--let them sit sealed in the plastic bag until they are cool, then you can peel them easily).
Very satisfied with all this bounty, I returned home, to the work part!!! I was already canning apple sauce and apple butter because our next door neighbors' trees are busting this year and you can't beat the price or the commute!
We started up all the burners between cooking down the tomatoes for sauce [pizza night!] and peeling the whole tomatoes for use in many crock pot recipes. That, and all the canning stuff.... our house was roasting.
George and I are still trying to figure out how to be a canning family. It drives him crazy to have all these projects going on, all half finished of course. It takes over practically the whole house, and oh yeah, we still have two small children who demand most of our attention. :)
Between all of it, we put up about 15 quarts of tomatoes, 8 pints of sauce, and we've got all the tomatoes that weren't quite ripe yet and were set on the saw in the garage now calling our names. I know it was really normal very recently to can, but now I seem like the wierd one. The thing is, it's the most eco-friendly proposition ever (besides the diaper-less baby).
1. Stuff gets ripe, you pull out your jars from last year, maybe buy new lids (2 bucks)
2. Can all the food you can, pull it out throughout the year and remember your hot weekend in the kitchen. After use, clean the jar and put it back in the closet.
3. Repeat.
Almost no waste, because of course all the junk you cut off of or peel goes into the compost (to help feed your plants next year. Seriously cheap too. and way better if another farm grows the food for you, and you step in at the last minute, like I get to at Monroe!!
Check out that shot of Rowan cranking out the tomatoes for sauce, did you ever see a cuter shot?
So besides all that, i'm unsure of what i'll do with the 20 pounds of pears that are about to be ripe on the counter, but I'm pretty sure it'll end up in the slow cookers for pear sauce. The boys absolutely love it, and we can put it on their oatmeal every morning. one grain, one fruit. voila.
School started for Rowan this week, and next week, when it starts for me, then it'll get interesting. I'm always optimistic that I'll have "time" when i'm not in class, but what happens is that I run like a crazy woman trying to cram in fun and other stuff that i've ignored [like bills] and are falling by the wayside.
Today I took the luxury of going out on my road bike for the first time since I was pregnant with Milo. Yes folks, that would be just about two years... Our babysitter, Danielle was with the boys because this is when I'll normally be freaking out about school work and going to class. I felt like cheating cruising away from the house for a bike ride! I guess two years is long enough to wait.
Thankfully, my trusty gray bike has been pulling the boys around, but it's not the same I tell you. My beauty bike is far more tight and faster. George dusted her off yesterday, thank goodness. You can't be a fancy bike and dusty!
We had playgroup at our house yesterday, and that was really fun. It is surreal to watch these children growing and changing, and I feel so tender for them all. Having this group has been amazing. I should have taken pictures. I will bring the camera next time.
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