Monday's Menu

*** I had posts planned for Thursday and Friday of last week but then I ran into some technical issues. The computer didn't want to work with me and I was unable to post. I guess I'll will include them this week. Hopefully, I will have it fixed. ***



I haven't just been showing you pictures of tomatoes that I've grown for no reason. I've been excited that my tomato plant has been working hard because I have been filling my freezer with home made spaghetti sauce. It makes me happy to see those bowls in there waiting on me. You can also use a pressure canner so that you don't have to freeze it (but I don't have one of those so I freeze).

After researching, I found that roma tomatoes are best for making sauce however I think the originator of this recipe probably used just regular slicing tomatoes since she didn't really clarify. You could probably use either.


To skin the tomatoes, the old trick is to cut an "x" in the bottom of the tomato, dip it into boiling water for about 30 to 60 seconds, and then pop it into a bowl of ice water. The skin almost slides right off then.

This particular recipe calls for tomato paste. It may be that there are recipes available that don't but I have never tried anything but this one. It comes from a source I trust (The Tightwad Gazette) and we like it in the slightly modified version I use.The original version calls for green peppers but we didn't care for that so I leave them out. It calls for a lot more onions than I ever have on hand so I usually use what I have. I haven't found that they make a huge difference in the taste. It also uses vegetable oil but I use olive oil. And, of course, if I had 2 or 3 mutant tomatoes monster plants, I would be able to make it without halving or thirding the recipe. Alas, I have only one survivor so I have to make it in smaller batches. While it is producing a bounty for a single plant, they ripen entirely too fast for me wait until I have enough.

I'm working on getting my herb garden going. Hopefully, next year I will have not only more than one survivor tomato plant, but also fresh herbs in bounty to use. Until then, I have to go with the ones I have in little jars in my pantry.


Enjoy!


Spaghetti Sauce

3 to 6 onions
3/4 cup oil
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
18 tomatoes, skinned
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon oregano
1 Tablespoon basil
1 Tablespoon thyme
2 1/2 (12 oz.) cans tomato paste

Grind onions (or, like me, pulverize the suckers in the food processor until they're pureed) and simmer in oil in large pan. Add tomatoes, garlic, salt, sugar, and herbs. Bring to a rolling boil. Add tomato paste, one can at a time, mixing well. Simmer a little longer.

If canning, pour into canning jars and process in pressure canner for a 25 minutes. Or allow to cool slightly and place in freezer containers.