The Bounty of Late Summer

It is hot in Saskatoon! I am writing this while hiding inside the air conditioned house. Yesterday the temperature was 40 degrees with the humidity! So naturally I decided to bake cookies in the morning and have tea and cookies outside on the patio until I felt very warm, then had to go hide in the cool basement for the late afternoon. I am considering a swim at the nearby, outdoor pool this afternoon. It seems a much better plan than roasting in the heat! 

I've had several requests for J's  tomato sauce, so here it is: 

(He bought 20 lbs of tomatoes at the Farmer's Market and it made about 6 L of tomato sauce, in various sizes of jars.)

First, wash and cut the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes in a large stockpot and add the following ingredients:

- 1 cup of olive oil

- 1\2 to 3\4 cup of red wine

- 1\3 cup of dried herbs (basil, rosemary, oregano, maybe some sage)

- 6 to 7 large garlics, smashed

- 4 to 6 large bay leaves

- Salt, to taste

Once the ingredients are added, mix with a wooden spoon to incorporate the flavors.

Then, using a potato masher, mash the tomatoes a bit to help break apart the pieces and allow the flavors to develop even further. Bring the stockpot to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, cooking for 2 hours until nice and deep red in color with some of the liquid evaporated.

Once ready, remove the large bay leaves, place a large glass bowl under and begin straining using a tomato strainer  fitted with the largest disk to strain out the really thick peels….you will still get the yummy pulp if using the largest disk

Let the sauce cool down for about half an hour, then begin filling your sterilized jars\bottles. 

When finished, fill a large stockpot with about two cups of water and place your jars inside. Next, fill with more water until the jars are almost completely submerged and bring to a boil. If you are worried about the jars noisily dancing together, just place clean fingertip or washcloth towels in between the jars.  Boil on medium for about 30 minutes.

Then, line a large laundry basket or container with a thick heavy blanket and place the basket in a draft free, undisturbed area of your kitchen or house. Using jar tongs, remove the jars and place them inside the basket, covering them well with more blankets on top so they stay warm initially and cool down gradually. You will hear their lids pop and start to vacuum seal as the day passes. Let them stay in the basket at least two full days. Then check each lid to make sure each is air tight! 

Enjoy the sauce with some delicious pasta, meat, or anything you dream of! I am going to use a small jar tonight for pizza sauce. We're going to have chorizo sausage, arugula, roasted garlic, and mozzarella pizza for dinner. I might even cook it on the bbq to avoid heating up the kitchen. 

Much love to you all,

S + J and J + S

Takes from the Shuswap

I'm sitting lakeside while writing this post. I've come for a week of swimming, canoeing, eating, and general merry making with my family. I was supposed to fly in to Kelowna from Saskatoon and drive up with my aunt and uncle, but the plane coming in to Saskatoon from Toronto was delayed due to thunderstorms. And so, my plane would be delayed and I wasn't going to catch my connection to Kelowna. However, my wonderful cousins, V and A, we're going to be driving up from Vancouver and it turned out that I would make a connecting flight to Vancouver no trouble.  So I got to fly to Vancouver, take the sky train, smell the ocean, and have a beautiful trip from the coast to the interior with some of my favourite people in the world. And when we made it to the Shuswap, we excitedly started swimming, exclaiming over the lovely views and enjoying some delicious beverages while playing bocce ball. We were soon joined by the rest of the group and have been enjoying ourselves lakeside immensely. Tonight is movie night in Salmon Arm and we will see 'Guardians of the Galaxy' or some such thing. It should be highly entertaining. 

J is back at home in Saskatoon and has been very busy baking bread, canning homemade tomato sauce and keeping the home fire burning. Really, he's working, but he can look forward to a holiday in October when I will (probably, but not for sure) be working and certainly will be studying. 

However, now it is time for golf and then some swimming. Talk to you a soon! Love, S 

Ravin' Raspberry

I went raspberry picking this week. That's right, this means you get pictures of raspberry fields, the obligatory empty bucket and full bucket pictures, and a description of my jam making and ice cream making experience. I am happy to report that the ice cream making was much less messy this time!