Out with a Bang! ~ Paste Tomatoes are Done!

Lemony-Basil Tomato soup (BHG recipe).  One last canning day with paste tomatoes. Next year we plan to grow several types of paste tomatoes.  I have put a towel over my sauce and put sticky notes until the 24 hour period has passed, so I can label before I forget what is what ha ha!

The big pots are being put away, and tables taken down and folded up.  The tomato splatters all washed away, stove top scrubbed down.  It's a hoorah moment today.

It's a good feeling when the tomato season (other than our slicers left to enjoy) has come to an end.  I have been canning daily here for almost 2 weeks, and it will be a fine joy to have a day off today.

As most of you know, when canning season is in full swing, other work suffers inside and outside the homestead.  It will be nice to get some things in order today.  I hope to get my emails read finally too.

Canning season is not over yet.  At least I hope not, as we need hot pepper relish in the pantry.  I most likely will not can hot pepper jelly this year.  I guess we'll see, as some of the kids like it.  It just depends on supply and time.

I took a look-see at the other squash, and I do not see one acorn squash on the acorn squash plants.  Strange, unless the bees were so busy on the zucchini this year, they didn't make it over there??  I will take a closer look after the garden dries out a bit.

The rain that came through here, and even last night, has brought us a welcomed cooler weather.

One last note:  I asked my husband to pick me up a few pounds of ground pork from a local butcher.  He didn't.  He went to the store and got 2 pounds of grocery store "country" sausage.  Read the labels, and this is why I make my own breakfast sausage.  It contained "corn syrup" as the 3rd ingredient.  No wonder some people are diabetic and have other health issues.  Just an FYI.  You'd never think, corn syrup would be in sausage.  They often use a sweetener in store breakfast sausages and roll sausages.

Paste Tomatoes ~ Spearmint ~ Cucumber Powder ~ Bell Peppers

I'll admit, that some things suffer this time of year, and yes that is a big ol' pile of towels on a kitchen chair.  It's been there for 2 days now, as I have been very busy, and too tired at the end of the day.  We still need to eat and we still need to have clean clothes and linens.

Tomatoes are still rolling in.  I've canned ketchup and Lemony-Basil Tomato Soup, and a 2nd batch of ketchup.

I've put a start on dehydrating spearmint finally.  I've also made dehydrated cucumber powder.  Spearmint is for tea and both of them are for Tzatziki Sauce this winter.  It is the first year to make cucumber powder, and I am researching the uses for it.  It sounds like it would be great in sauces, dips, and other recipes.  I had a few cucumbers getting too soft to make a salad, and didn't want to waste them (although I am sure the chickens would have loved them).  I do have a better plan to keep the cucumbers "fresh" after picking them.

The weather is heating back, so any dehydrating is on hold now.

I used some of our regular beefsteak type tomatoes to make fresh salsa.  I just throw it all in my food processor.  Our jalapenos are hot this year.  Woooweee! 

I have a few more bell peppers to take care of, but we found our newest, favorite breakfast. 

 I stuffed them for breakfast with some sage sausage, egg/cheese mixture with spinach.  The one in the middle spilled out, but you can't get "perfect" bell peppers when they are homegrown ha ha!  These were so dang good!  I used a recipe online from The Recipe Rebel, and just used the sausage vs. ham.

Has anyone frozen halves of bell peppers to make these over winter?  If we get more bell peppers in the garden, I may try freezing some in halves, just to try this breakfast.  I'm just wondering if they will be too soft after freezing.  Anyway, that is a quick catch up on what's going on here.

I found a quick pattern, to use up leftover cotton yarn balls, and I have a small container (one of the kids hand crafted me and gifted me one Christmas), in my kitchen now.  It's holding the leftover yarn, so I have a special place to work on them while watching the sauce reduce or canning. 

They are cup coasters, and after making 2 with the leftover balls of yarn, I had enough yarn to make one facial scrubbie, and still had a small bit of yarn leftover.  These are balls of yarn leftover from knitting dishcloths.  I do love the edging.  I now have learned a new stitch believe or not.  I'll get a better photo to share.  I plan to sell them all at the last, and only fall craft show this year (which I still have to locate and sign up).

I thought I took a photo, but will be back with that, as I am wondering what to do with the last small bit of yarn leftover.  I may call the local school and ask the art teacher if they could use it.

I am still putting up paste tomatoes, and may be doing it all next week. I am devoting Saturday to a day off from them, as we need to get the chicken coop worked on.  It seems that everything was put on hold, because of tomatoes.  I'm too tired at the end of the day, and I am my husband's only help.  If I am not available, it's not getting worked on.

We got a hot minute of porch time last night.  We grilled burgers and topped them with home canned pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese, and grilled corn on the cob.  The weather was oddly chilly.  The Labor Day weekend will be hot, with temps up in the upper 90's.  I'm glad I did not turn the AC off.

Tomato Days! ~ Littles are Laying ~ Zucchini Pizza Bites and other Tidbits

 Welcome to Crazy Lady's Kitchen, where the days start with tomatoes, and end with sauce anything!

My Weston sauce maker waste funnel broke!  Of all the wrong times to happen.  The funnel is a think plastic one, with plastic tabs to attach it.  It broke before, and they were out of stock for over a year.  I saved my old one, and hold it on, but now the price to replace it is a whopping $21.79 with shipping.  

I'm looking into getting a different food strainer/sauce maker.  What is the brand you all use (for those who have one)?  If I have to replace the funnel every year, I might as well look into a better overall sauce maker.  I use it to make applesauce too.  

We brought in another 80 pounds of paste tomatoes.  I canned pizza sauce, and taco sauce.  I've been crazy busy, with long days in the kitchen.  Top that off with doing all the dishes, and trying to keep up with normal housework, including laundry!  Yikes.  Let alone the mowing.

I apologize if you emailed me.  I have not had a second to read them, and it's either that or I plum forget with the crazy kitchen-ness!!

I managed to get one bell pepper into our dinner, but I have all of these to either freeze or eat.  I'm hoping for some stuffed bell peppers soon.

Breakfast has been simple.  I baked these eggs and ham cups in parchment this time, and they came out of the pan much, much easier.

The "littles" are laying now.  I am happy that most of them are laying them in the roosts too.

I made zucchini pizza bites with home canned pizza sauce.  I used instructions for baking at 375°F, but will try other ways such as higher temp and/or using broil method.  Zucchini is slowing way down for us now.

We finally found a cucumber salad we love, that uses Greek yogurt vs. mayo.  I'll be back to share that soon.  I just have to get this mountain of paste tomatoes off the tables and out of my living room first.