Today’s podcast shares a bit of how we spent the day with our version of afternoon tea we have termed “low tea”.
Not only that, we describe our recent visit to Jungle Jim’s International Market.
If you are in the Charleston Illinois area, stop by the Farm Fresh Mercantile on Saturday’s through December 21, 2019 to pick up fun holiday gifts for yourself or others.
Our online Mercantile is open 24 hours a day and we ship across the U.S.
Until next time….
Last week I posted about using up the last of the home grown garden tomatoes. As part of the final garden tasks for the year, the plants were removed and the last green tomatoes harvested. These slowly ripen in the garage allowing us the opportunity to have fresh, local tomatoes through a winter freeze.
Attempting to cram too many tasks into a day left me with limited time to do something with the tomatoes. So I resorted to a tried and true, relatively quick method of using up a random quantity.
Placing the tomatoes in a colander in the sink, I poured boiling water over them then rinsed in cold water. This made peeling easier. The next step was to squeeze out the seeds, quarter and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkled with my favorite Tuscan Sunset Herb blend from Penzey’s and drizzled with olive oil, these baked at 350º convection for about 45 minutes.
The baked tomatoes were dumped into a stock pot and blended with an immersion blender. (If you do not have one of these awesome kitchen gadgets, you need one. Stop reading right now and order on Amazon. Several inexpensive models are available and it is worth it.) Back to the tomato sauce: season to taste with salt and pepper, then keep warm while making the rest of the meal.
This is a super versatile sauce, but sometimes there is nothing like simple spaghetti noodles with this fresh sauce topped with freshly grated parmesan cheese. I added a quick salad and cheesy bread. Simple, satisfying and fresh.
This meal did not use up all of the sauce; what is left will make a tasty lasagna several days later. I will layer wide noodles with sauce, mozzarella and ricotta. Lasagna always makes enough for leftovers and is even better the second time around in my opinion.
At the end of this round of sauce, which took less than an hour of active time, we will have at least three meals. Not bad for November tomatoes.
I still intend to get out the Julia Child cookbooks, but when you run out of time during the day and just need to get something quick on the table; fix an old favorite and don’t apologize.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Plus if you are coming to the Mercantile on Saturday, order pies and scones by 5:00 PM on Thursday. The Mercantile will be open every Saturday through December 21, 2019 with special hours on Black Friday.
We are excited to announce that Honey Bee Comes to the Farm, a children’s book authored by our youngest cat. This full color book can be enjoyed by children of all ages.
There is also discussion about other writing projects and much more!
Keep coming back, it’s going to get interesting.
If you would like to order Honey Bee Comes to the Farm, just click the link. It is also available through AmazonAmazon or our on site Mercantile. We are open every Saturday through Dec. 21, 2019 plus special hours on Black Friday.
Today’s episode is a fun discussion about the growth of our farm business, the on site Mercantile and how we are becoming a “thing”. We even make up new nicknames.
Keep coming back, these are the kinds of things that make life interesting.
If you are interested in our products but can’t get to the Mercantile, you can order in the on line version of our Mercantile. Our same great products shipped to you.
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
