Too Many Tomatoes...

This summer was long and hot...which is apparently the prefect weather for growing a garden. Our garden grow into a jungle this year and we have more tomatoes than we know what to do with—I've been picking a pound or two a day since the beginning of August. So, I had to come up with a couple of easy ways to use and preserve this amazing bounty (and waste as like as possible).

Fresh Sauce

I planted two varieties of cherry tomatoes this year and they produce more fruit than the other varieties I planted. We've had so many, I could have stocked the local grocery store—there is no way we could eat them all ourselves.

I came up with a very easy way to use them and store them for later...freezable pasta sauce.  This sauce has a wonderful fresh taste that really showcases the flavor of the sweet little tomatoes...and it's fat free! It could not be more simple to make. Here's how to do it:

1 to 2 pounds of cherry tomatoes
3 to 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
6 to 10 leafs of  fresh basil
1 tsp crush red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1 to 2 tsp white pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Blend the tomatoes, basil, and garlic in a food processor and then pour them into a large sauce pan. Heat the tomato liquid over medium heat. Once the liquid is cooking add the other ingredients.  Cook it until the liquid thickens up—about an hour.

At this point, you can either serve it over pasta, or add chicken stock and cream to make a soup. What ever you don't use can be frozen and used throughout the winter. 

Freezing Instead of Canning

I planted two Roma tomato plants with the intention of canning them, but I discovered a much better way to preserve them...freezing!

Canning is labor intensive and you need a lot of ripe tomatoes on hand at one time. My Roma plants have produced lots of fruit, but I have not had a great enough quantity of ripe tomatoes at the same time to make canning worth while. Freezing has worked out for me much better because I can do small batches. Once or twice a week I freeze what's on hand.

The process is simple. Blanch them in boiling water for about 1 minute, peel them, pop them in a freezer bag, and done! Since I started preserving my Romas this way, I've discover this works for the large heirloom varieties I have too.

Now I'm looking forward to a winter filled with yummy sauces, soups, and stews made with summer fresh tomatoes from my own backyard!

Handmade Christmas

This year I wanted to do something special for our Christmas decoration. When I was a kid, crafts were always part of the holidays. We made ornaments out of clay, crocheted snowflakes, and made angels to put on top of the tree. This year I decided to continue this tradition and make as many decorations as I could. With a little inspiration from HGTV and Pinterest.com I completed three projects.

Christmas Ball Wreath

I found a large wreath form in the back of the storage room that is under our stairs that must have been left behind by the previous owners. So, I thought, instead of buying a wreath for over the fireplace, I should make one. I purchased inexpensive plastic ornaments from Target and wired each into place. The end result is lovely.

Book Trees and Glitter Deer

Inspired by a Martha Stewart project I found on Pinterest, I made some glitter deer. I found some great vintage plastic deer on Etsy and covered them in bronze glitter (Martha Stewart glitter of course).

My little glitter deer needed a habitat, so I made them some pine trees. Inspired by a Christmas special I saw on HGTV, I made the trees from old books I picked up at the thrift store and Styrofoam cones from the craft store.

Together with the glitter deer, the book trees make a lovely vignette for the top for the wood burning stove.

Winter Diorama Centerpiece   

The blog The Tortoise and the Hare originally inspired this project (I found this on Pinterest too), but I really wanted to do something more with it. So, I created a diorama in a glass cake stand I never use. I purchased small sisal Christmas trees and bleached them to create a vintage effect. Then I covered them in flocking and iridescent glitter. I placed them in a winter landscape I created with white glitter craft felt, fake snow (the kind used in the little Christmas villages) and more glitter. The finishing touch was tiny glitter deer. I found these tiny little deer on Etsy too and I covered them in a silvery teal glitter.

 Lovely!

Journey from Consumer to Producer Begins...

Step one: Sewing Classes

I've made an early New Year's resolution. I'd like to produce more and less of a consumer , but first I need to acquire skills to allow me to do that. So for the next year I will learn skills like sewing and food preservation.

Three weeks ago I started my first sewing class and last week I finish my first project! I made an apron! Now I'm working on pajama pants. Next I'll make a simple tote bag.  The best part of my sewing class...the school is called the Finishing School...I'm finally getting finished. 

I will post more sewing projects soon and I'll keep you posted my journey from consumer to producer over the next 12 months.