Tomato Blessings

I was given a bunch of roma tomatoes last week, courtesy of my sister's father-in-law and I immediately knew I would be making tomato sauce to freeze for my winter recipes.  Oh, how I love pulling homemade tomato sauce anytime of the year, but especially during the winter months!  Here is the process I went through...

 Chopped tomatoes over medium heat, waiting for them to release their juice...

 My herb pot needed cleaning out, the basil was about done, so, into the pot it went along with a little sage, some garlic and onion salt.

 How's this for color!

Still waiting for the juices to release...

Sneaky vegetable alert:  I did add zucchini and a few pods of okra.

Don't tell anyone, they'll never know when it's pureed.

 Oh, the sweetness of the juice...

I cook it down at this point, puree it and freeze.

Well, I didn't exactly freeze it right away.

I added some to my cottage cheese the next day and had a wonderful lunch!

I cut the rest of my basil into a bouquet.

The smell is divine and the basil will send out roots and last a long, long time.

As always, thanks for stopping by.  I enjoyed your visit and hope you did too!  

Linking Up With
(You know you can click on these links and be transported to some wonderful blogs!)
Coastal Charm
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Between Naps on the Porch
No Minimalist Here
Savvy Southern Style
Fishtail Cottage
The Brambleberry Cottage
Ivy and Elephants 
 

Shocking Weather to People and Plants

WOW!  It is hot here in the midwest.  We usually are having a rainy, cold start to June, so temps in the 100+ range are quite a shock to people and plants--especially newly planted plants!  Hope my friend Stacey is right when she told me June is changing places with August.

My poor container plants may not make it with such drastic temperatures, so I thought I would show them to you now before they die a slow, dry, windy death.

Notice all the dead leaves that have already started to fall off the birch tree!  Hope this is not foretelling of things to come!  The deck was just swept yesterday--this is one day's worth of dead leaves.  It's a little scary to think about.

This is a closeup of the bamboo poles I am trying with my tomato plants this year.  Has anyone tried this?  Will this work or will the plants get too heavy?  One of my experiments for the year.  I like the natural look of the poles and they are inexpensive too.  Great combo, if it works.

This shot was captured during the last rain.  I decided to plant lettuce, thinking as only a city girl would I could harvest lettuce all summer.  Cool idea, but wrong!  Talked to a farmer and he told me if I cut it to eat it, the plant would be done as in dying for the summer.  If I didn't cut it, the plant would die in the heat--this week should be a good test of that advice.   Lesson to me, lettuce is a cool season crop.  Live and learn.

Picture of my favorite new pot this year sorry for the dirt on it.  It was the same rainy day as the prior shot.  No food items in this pot, just planted for the cuteness factor.

This is a bush cucumber plant.  Hope it works.  Last year my vine only produced little cucumbers that quickly died on the vine.  I love cucumbers, so that was a little painful to watch!  Sorry about the ugly pot--sometimes I get desparate.

You can probably read my tacky little tag I left in the plant.  These are red pepper plants.  From past experience, I do know that all green peppers will turn red, but I wondered if these would have a different flavor.

This is one of two strawberry pots I like to fill with herbs.  They seem quite happy right now.  We'll see how the weather plays with them.  They may be fine if last summer was any indication of herbs + heat.

I also planted okra.  I love okra may be my favorite vegetable and I order it at every restaurant that I can.  I eat it raw, pickled, in soups, fried and any other way.  I never have enough okra.  Also, if you look at the first picture, I planted two hibiscus for color.  They are one of our family's favorite flowers.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of the deck.  I love planting in pots and experimenting.  Thanks again for reading and stay cool.  Robin