Holy Tomatoes!

So, we planted a lot of tomatoes. We are picking and eating a lot of tomatoes. I always plant a tomato called Principe Borghese.
It is a small roma that makes excellent dried tomatoes as well as lovely sauce and is a very heavy producer. I decided to make a roasted tomato passata. Passata is just a basic cooked tomato sauce and can be used in recipes or as a pizza or pasta sauce. I did a little reading and came up with my version of a simple passata. Not really a recipe, more of a set of guidelines.

roma tomatoes, washed and stems removed (I had two cookie sheets full of tomatoes)
2 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, smashed
about 1 tsp. sea salt
a bunch of grinds of fresh pepper
about 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil

Line two cookies sheets with parchment or foil. Fill each with tomatoes.

I didn't cut my tomatoes since they are the size of a large cherry tomato but if you have regular romas, slice them in half. Divide remaining ingredients between pans and toss gently, just so the tomatoes are all coated with the oil.

Roast them in the oven at 350F for about an hour. The skins will be shriveled and the tomatoes will be very soft. The onions and garlic should be very soft too.
Now puree the whole lot. I used an immersion blender, but a blender, food processor or food mill would work as well. Adjust seasoning.

At this point I added a generous 1/2 cup of fresh basil cut in very thin strips (chiffonade), packaged it in containers and froze it.
I thought it was very delicious!
I have been sewing a bunch and may actually get around to sharing some new things with you all. I hope you all have a glorious weekend! xo

The first week of school has finished and the second has begun. G. is absolutely loving Kindergarten! She sets her alarm before bed every night and when it goes off in the morning she jumps out of bed to turn it off. She is so very excited every morning. Her teacher is amazing and she has already made a few new friends. I am so proud of her!

For me, I am struggling with the thought of lunches. So far we have only done half days and all G. has needed is a snack. This week we start with the lunches though. I have been picking the brains of all my mom friends for ideas. I guess I am struggling because I always hated the lunches my mom packed me when I was a kid. I wasn't (and still am not) big on sandwiches. Here are some of my ideas:
- cheese and crackers with veggies
- leftovers ( I always loved leftovers as a kid)
- the dreaded sandwich!
- tortilla spread with cream cheese and jam, rolled up and sliced
- boiled egg and veggies
- soup in a thermos with bread or crackers
Any amazing lunch ideas out there? I am dying to hear them!
Hope you have a fantastic day! xo

Things around here...

have been a whirlwind of activity.
Someone turned five. We had a birthday party with her friends at the park in the afternoon.

I made her an awesome dinosaur cake which she promptly told me was not a dinosaur but a dragon. I still thought it was rad.



Don't tell anyone but I am pretty sure she did too.
When we asked G. what she wanted to do for her birthday her first response was that she wanted to have a bbq with her aunt and uncle. This is the uncle that scared the crap out of her for her first few years of life. We definitely had to honor that request and so we had a family bbq at our place. The Mister made his famous ribs ( Oh-my-goodness, these ribs are mind blowing!) and my brother brought some salmon that he had caught. It was an exhausting day. But oh-so-much fun!
We have also been going to the beach,

....wrangling bugs,
...canning peaches,
...and pickles,

Everything in this jar came out of our garden!

...picking veggies,
...and sewing lovely things.


Now we are going to soak up the last days of summer. And we are getting ready for the new routine of the first year of school. How did that get here so fast? G. is excited and a little apprehensive. I think that is to be expected. I'm just glad there is excitement in there too.
Wishing you all a lovely day! xo