Prefix of the day: Re-

This blog is getting a revamp! I am recommitting some time to actually blogging and re-doing what is on here. I may or may not wait until the new year so this re-surrection, but a little sneak peak is reasonable...

=weekly links to web found favorites and fun blogs

=some fashion

=adventures in our tiny kitchen

=yummy foodie tidbits and reviews (mostly an excuse to try new restaurants)

=and my personal favorite...photography!

The Easiest Tomato Sauce EVER!

So my "all about us" blog is rapidly changing into a food related blog...I can't decide if this is a bad thing or a great thing. In any case, lately I feel like we are drowning in tomatoes! Tonight, having been blessed with more tomatoes from our CSA and dozens more ripening on the vine outside, I "needed" to eat tomatoes. This being September, Nate was hunting, so the tomato eating fell to me! Poor me, right?!

I stumbled upon the easiest recipe for tomato sauce imaginable! It came from the How to Cook Everything cookbook.

1) Saute two cloves garlic (minced) in 3 tablespoons olive oil

2) When the garlic begins to change color, add 12oz cherry tomatoes (whole) or larger tomatoes chopped

3) Mash the tomatoes with a fork.

4) Add oregano, basil, salt, and/or pepper to taste.

5) Cook until the sauce reaches the desired consistency

6) Eat it with a spoon, over pasta, with veggies, however, just eat it!

This is the before shot, and I really did mean to take an after shot1 The sauce just was so good I completely forgot!

B-B-B-Berries and Some Trivia

How many blueberries are in a pound?

How may blueberries does it take to make a blueberry pie?

Scroll to the bottom for the answers

More berries were in store for us last weekend! Katherine was here for Labor Day, and she had raspberry picking on her mind! We found a great little farm up in Bryant (about an hour north of Seattle) with raspberries a few and blueberries aplenty. Nate had gone hunting with Bryan for the weekend, and we joked that we were all fulfilling our evolutionary responsibilities.

Nate to hunt. Us to gather.

These fall raspberries were just starting to ripen! We were so fortunate to be there for their debut weekend!

We had to search long and hard for the raspberries, but it was worth it! Blueberries were a different story! Not only were the bushes over our heads, but they were literally laden with fruit! I picked 5 pounds in 45 minutes. (That does not count the 1.25 pounds I consumed!)

There are 350 blueberries in a pound, and it takes only one pound to make a pie!

It's not over yet: Making Blackberry Jam

I feel as though when the canning begins, summer is ending. Although we technically have three weeks left, sadly, Seattle decided to begin fall tomorrow with a week's worth of rain. As I cry to myself about needing umbrellas and morn the 10 pm sunshine, I have to remember the good that fall ushers in, delicious, fresh, local, "organic" produce!

My time as a "canner" began last year with an achingly long day of preserving with my boss and friend Katie. Not knowing what we were in for, we decided to make pickles, barbeque sauce, sweet and sour sauce, and chutney. IN ONE DAY! It was exhausting, but I loved it, and I'm hooked!

This year I've pickled carrots and green beans, made amazing zucchini pickles with a recipe from www.LeloNopo.com, and blackberry jam!

Homemade jam is close to my heart. My very bestfriend Katherine de la Fuente and I are friends because our moms made jam together! I remember being lifted up to see the overripe California strawberries stewing away in big pots. We don't get an abundance of strawberries in Seattle, but we do have blackberry brambles everywhere! Mom and I foraged blackberries from the beach by her house, mixed in a little pectin, and voila! Jam!* It's gotten good reviews from discerning tasters, so I'm happy. I'm happy even if summer is ending, and I'll be slightly soggy for the next ten months!

Next time...Summer in a nutshell...Boys, Boats, Family, Lori's wedding, and other summer fun!

*It's not really that easy, but you get the idea!

For the Love of the Perfect Tomato

For the city and suburban gardener the ripening tomato is a sure sign that a) they are not a total failure and b) the summer bounty is about to come tumbling on to our plate!

Having spent the greater part of the winter pouring over Maggie Stuckey and Rose Marie Nichols McGee's The Bountiful Container and inspired by my other "eat local" readings, I wishfully planted an array of fruits and veggies on our west facing deck. I am not going to lie, I am pretty proud of myself. We have numerous herbs, leafy greens, edible flowers, and the sweetest sugar snap peas. However, I could only smile politely at these gifts from the garden, and I quickly turned my attention back to pruning, staking, fertilizing, and generally fretting over the Sungold tomato plant. When the little green tomatoes grew and started to ripen, I got out the camera, and waited not so patiently with baited breath.

Photo #1 Giddy tomato mother awakes to a yellow tomato

Photo #2 Giddy tomato mother is grinning from ear to ear

Photo #3 Giddy tomato mother threatens husband if he eats the tomatoes

Photo #4 Perfectly ripened tomato is consumed! (I can no longer think of myself as a tomato mother)

Limoncello: The Finale

So after many days (actually months) of toiling (not really, but still) over the limoncello, it's ready! For those who missed the initial blog I will repost the recipe for you all! I have used the recipe given on one of my favorite blogs www.NapaFarmhouse1885.blogspot.com This recipe is easy, really hands off, and turns out DELICIOUS! Nate took some to a dinner with his buddies, and they loved it! I am going to scour some recipe books and find a cocktail or two that involves limoncello, and of course I will have to test them out before I post about them!

meyer lemon limoncello

step 1

36 meyer lemons

two 4-in rosemary sprigs, washed and dried

2 bottles (750 ml. each) 100-proof vodka such as stolichnaya or smirnoff

2 1-gallon glass jars with a tight seal

peel lemons with citrus peeler, taking only the zest (the top layer). avoid any white pith. put a sprig of rosemary in each jar. place half of zest in one jar and remainder in second jar.

pour 1 bottle vodka over jar of rosemary and zest. repeat with second bottle of vodka over second jar of rosemary and zest. let jars sit undisturbed in a cool, dark place for 40 days...

After 40 days....

limoncello, part 2

10 cups water

9 cups sugar

2 bottles (750 ml. each) 100 proof vodka, such as stolichnaya or smirnoff

bring the water to a boil in a large pot. add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved. let the sugar syrup cool to room temperature.

divide the syrup in half and pour first half into one of your lemon-vodka mixture 1 gallon glass jars and the second half into the other gallon jar. pour 1 full bottle vodka into each jar. stir well. seal container and let sit undisturbed in a cool, dark place for another 40 days...

After another 40 days....

meyer lemon limoncello, part 3

pour limoncello through a cheesecloth covered large pitcher. (if you doubled the recipe like i did, this may require a couple of steps). divide among glass bottles and... because this needs to be stored in the freezer... i use rubber stoppers vs cork... Now you get to enjoy it!

San Francisco Reunion

As luck would have it, my old friend Keren is living in San Francisco this summer. Tory instigated the whole trip, and we (we being some dear high school friends) found ourselves in San Francisco for a relaxing weekend! We biked the bridge, had lunch in Sausalito, went dancing, stumbled on a street fair, and took 100s of pictures. (This is what happens when you get three aspiring photographers together!)

I left the weekend with a warm feeling. I am a big fan of the "Sunscreen Song." It is the closest thing I have to a personal creed. There is a line that says "Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get the more you need the people who knew you when you were young." Now I don't really feel old, and I don't feel like I "need" to get in touch with the past. With that said, it was wonderful to be with old friends. I felt a little closer to past I had forgotten and a little closer to wonderful people I have spent to much time away from. Reunions should happen more often!

Bike the Bridge!

"It's just the way we roll."

A Snipit of Spring

It was a delightful spring! I say "was" because as of this weekend, it is officially summer! Hooray! Spring has been filled with family, friends, celebrations, reunions, and wonderfully mundane weekends! Stephen graduated, Nate's brother, Bart, married Sara in Boulder, CO, Nate finished his 3rd year of med school, and we spent time with good friends. Sigh.

Every time the season changes, I am brimming with excitement and filled with sadness. I love the future and relish the past. I spend so much of my time awaiting tomorrow, yet I secretly miss yesterday. I think this is why I love taking pictures. I love being able to capture a moment, a laugh, a furrowed brow, an open window, and revisit it time and time again (as it passes through my screensaver!)

So we are saying adieu to Spring and hello to Summer! We're bringing out the flipflops and Nate and I will travel to Vanuatu, our dear friend and avid blog reader, Lori, will get married to Matt, and we will enjoy the fruits of our gardening labors!

Here are some pictures of our Spring Adventures. Enjoy!

Thomson Kids without Adam, sad.

Stephen's Graduation Party

Clamming

Paull Family in the tidal zone foraging for dinner

Saying good-bye to Adam

Life Lessons with Mimi

Diane made Buffett and crown

Weekend Picnic

Working in the P Patch

Paull Family

Ben and Mara at Taste