Sweet and Creamy Roasted Tomato Salsa

We've been eating a lot of fresh Pico de Gallo and I wanted something a little more mellow and creamy. This is just the ticket.  
Ingredients:
     3 pints of cherry tomatoes (or 9-10 regular tomatoes)
     1 sweet onion
     5 cloves garlic
     1 jalapeno pepper
     small bunch of cilantro or 1 T dry
     juice of 2 limes
     teaspoon of sea salt

Wash tomatoes and place on a cookie sheet under the broiler for 15 minutes.  Let the skins turn a little black.  I used the low broiler setting on my Maytag gas oven.  The tomatoes are a mix of red "Sweet 100" and orange "Candy Sweet" cherry tomatoes.

Saute chunks of onions, garlic and jalapeno in a little olive oil.

Put everything into a food processor or blender.  I'm using a Vitamix on low, dial #4 for a chunky mixture.

I also added the tomato juice from the cookie sheet after broiling.

After blending.

Nice and creamy!  It'll be hard, but this salsa tastes best after sitting in the fridge overnight!  If you didn't know better, you'd think there was sugar in the recipe.  Saweeet!

Glorious Flowers

I adore flowers.  Each year I try new plants and this year, I discovered the humble marigold is stunning in this airy variety, adding a lovely height and texture among the shorter assorted flowers on my front steps.  

An end-of-the-season $4 six-pack of wave petunias overflows this pot in the back yard.  Flowers + good deal = happiness!

Isn't the color of this geranium charming?!

Gorgeous red-orange echinacea. 

A new flower opening...

After growing Morning Glories for a few years, we find them growing everywhere.  They quickly take over and stifle other plants if we don't keep on top of them.  The true color is a deep violet, but I can't seem to capture it.

This sunflower variety grew 10-12 feet tall.  With so many flowers per stalk, they soon bowed over.  I'm a little disappointed, though, with their short bloom cycle.  Not a good choice for a front yard flower, but their too soon dead-looking silhouette would be kinda cool along the back fence line.  

Zinnias!  So much delight from one seed packet.  Seeds in perpetuity.  Joyfulness...

This orange one is a fav...

Keep an eye out for creepy crawlers...

Black-eyed Susans.

Impatiens in the shady corner of my front steps.

Oh, look!  A Batgirl!

Candy-striped verbenum.

White geranium.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes for Freezing

When they're coming faster than you can eat them, here's a delicious way to preserve your cherry tomatoes.  I have a mix of reds and orange "Candy Sweet" cherry tomatoes.  So yummy, and so prolific!  First, wash your tomatoes under running water.

Slice them in half and place in a bowl.  Add a few peeled garlic cloves and 1/4 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Stir to coat.

Carefully dump your tomatoes onto a rimmed cookie sheet and sprinkle with some freshly ground pepper and sea salt.

Roast in a 300 degree F oven for 3 hours or until done.  Check after one hour and every 30 minutes after that.  Gently stir to keep tops from drying out too quickly.

Almost done...

Done.

Bag and label for the freezer.

Thanks for visiting!

Canning Tomatoes!

I decided to get serious about canning enough tomatoes this fall to take my family through the year until next harvest for three reasons.  First, I want to avoid the corn syrup and preservatives that are added to most canned tomatoes, including the Del Monte products that I was using.  Second, I was finding more core pieces and under-ripe sections in the store bought cans.  And finally, It's helpful to keep my costs down.  The store bought organic tomatoes I found were delicious, but spendy.

The tomatoes I've canned in past years were a little too salty and slightly bitter from added salt and lemon juice.  Since salt and lemon juice are optional ingredients, I now leave them out.  I found an old-fashioned method for canning tomatoes and that's the process I describe here.  It is not an 'approved' canning method, but if it was good enough for past generations, it's good enough for me.  Do your own research and decide for yourself.  :-)

CANNED TOMATOES PROCESS

Start with some beautiful, ripe, organic tomatoes.  I'm using pink Brandywines, Big Boy and Early Girl tomatoes.  (Romas are great too, but I didn't grow any this year.)

Wash under running cold water and core tomatoes; remove blemishes and cut an "X" on the bottom of the tomato to make the skins easier to remove.

Place in boiling water for 3-5 minutes.

Remove with a slotted spoon and place in cold water.  Ice is optional.  Just change the water when it becomes warm.  

Peel tomatoes and cut into chunks.  Drop into a large pot.  I used my water bath canner for its size.  

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 35 minutes.

When you begin to heat up the tomatoes, turn the oven to 170 degrees F.  Put the jars on a cookie sheet and place in the oven to get hot.

Fill hot jars with hot tomatoes, add a sterilized lid and ring and hand tighten.  Leave jars alone for 24 hours.  Check for seal, remove ring, wipe down and label jars.