It’s Friday night, and it’s just my husband and I at home
with the two little ones. This might be
the norm in most households but in the multi-generational, blended-family home we reside in, times like this are
strangely sparse. A typical (and well
enjoyed) evening consists of 7 family members ranging in age from 4 to 65. It makes for an interesting mix of
traditions, preferences and noise levels…but that is another post all
together.
When contemplating the evening’s activities earlier in the
day the thoughts of the counter FULL of tomatoes waiting to be canned (or anything
other than attracting gnats) came to mind.
A few weeks ago Scott and I came across the most WONDERFUL marinara
sauce recipe (by chance on Pinterest of course). We made a batch and immediately knew what we
were going to do with the gobs of tomatoes that had simultaneously
ripened. So it was decided, a night in
the kitchen cooking together was the plan.
The kids have been fed and are watching their first bit of
glorious TV for the week. It is Friday
and there is no homework to be done. I
tell myself it’s okay to let them zone out because they are also being
productive making a “car” from boxes and
miscellaneous rescues from the recycle bin at the same time… so technically
they aren’t vegging! To the kitchen!!!!
I know what you are saying.
“There is a whole 10 foot long section at any grocery store that has any type
of pasta sauce you can think of.” Incredible!
All you have to do is twist off the top and pour it out. You can heat it up and then go watch the
latest episode of whatever singing, pregnant teen, toddler wearing makeup,
Hollywood woman acting like a toddler, crime drama show you wish. Wow, that does sound easy. Hey Michelle I’m
running to the store! …………….. She
doesn’t look amused.
I remember growing up seeing jars of canned vegetables in
the closet in out garage. They were also in my grandmother and grandfathers
garage. We would make jelly from the
grape vine growing on my grandfather’s
fence. It was magic. You could take these grapes that came out of
the yard which I didn’t particularly like, boil them add a few things and you
could have something great. I also
learned that food comes from somewhere, not just the store. It can
be shocking to consider, but food doesn’t spontaneously appear on the shelf of
the local chain store in a box, can or jar…it grows somewhere first.
Unfortunately, we have become completely detached from our
food. Even getting back into gardening I
found myself becoming irritated I don’t have tomatoes the week after I plant
the seeds. It took a little longer than
that, but holy crap we got a lot of tomatoes! Is our pasta sauce the greatest ever? Probably not. Do we love it? Oh yeah! It’s kind of like kids. Yeah I know your kid could
be faster, taller, maybe gets better grades, or behaves better, but these…these
are mine. I love these kids more than yours because these
are MINE. No it’s not in the DNA, that
doesn’t make the parent or the child. It’s in the time and the heart in soul
put into the raising that makes it that way. The same goes for almost anything
in life, when you invest yourself in something…it is always better! Back to the kitchen…
A few good drinks (Caipirinha’s being the one of choice
tonight…yet another post to come), some great
music care of our frequently used app Spotify via the greatest purchase
we made for our wedding reception (the GBoom speaker) and we are soon dancing
around the kitchen prepping tomatoes, onions, and garlic. The sounds of music and the wonderful scents
of garlic fill the air, and the smiles are ear to ear on occasion. Our cooking adventures together are a dance
in the kitchen both figuratively and literally. I am the planner, the prepper,
the measurer… he is the best at chopping, dicing what have you. He mixes and sautés… I clean up as we go and
occasionally we meet in the middle of it all to sway back and forth to the
melodious sounds relishing the moment. It only took us the first 30-40 year to find
each other, and we are blessed to enjoy
every second of the next.
The recipe truly is WONDERFUL. I think the key to our version is a mixture
of a few things. We grew all of the
tomatoes ourselves, so that means it MUST taste better. We use our Vitamix to puree 8 cups of the
tomatoes (Skin and all) and then strain
out any remaining seeds before we add the final 4 cups of needed tomatoes in
the diced version (fresh from the garden as well after peeling the skins post
water bath) plus we used FRESH home dried herbs from our garden. Even the “freshest” herbs from the spice
aisle at the store have lost SO much flavor, it changes the taste
noticeably.
With what you can buy a
bunch of fresh oregano at the store, you can buy a good sized plant at the
market (around $3.00). Oregano and basil
are so easy to grow at almost every home even with minimal space or experience. Herbs are an easy start for the beginner
gardener.
Other than that we followed the wonderful recipe, after 2
hours of simmering on the stovetop the product is the most amazing marinara
sauce we have ever tasted…even a few co-workers were thrilled at their first
tasting and we plan to give some in gift baskets of other goodies. Whether made for immediate use or as in our
case...canning for future use... the recipe is well worth the time.
The recipe link is posted below for those who wish to try it
as well. You will NOT be sorry.
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