As the seasons change so does the Domestic Executive routine. Nightly chores include putting the chickens to bed, watering the vegetables and tucking up the tomatoes for the night in the greenhouse.  New habits take a while to stick but if I want to keep my greenhouse cargo safe from evening chills then diligence must become my middle name.
We are on the homeward stretch for the summer growing season and in their usual triumphant style the tomatoes are strutting their stuff. We’re being rewarded after the early promise for the season with bucket loads of tomatoes coming off the vine each week.  The tomato sauce production line is up and running and I might try a spot of no sugar chutney and sauce making over the Easter weekend.
The southern hemisphere food blogosphere is humming with tomato harvests.  I’ve been particularly admiring of Sue over at Couscous and Consciousness who has been up to her eyes is in making tomato sauce and an intriguing yellow tomato and ginger conserve.  Also, a fellow Backyard Pantry Gardner Sue at Five Course Garden who has found her blogging inspiration again over a bowl of  tomatoes.
Looking back over my own blogging archive it seems I have something of a love hate relationships with tomatoes but it is one I would rather have than not. Even when the red harvest failed me I made the most of the green tomato glut. Nowadays the tomato sauce production is a simple and speedy operation after investing in a moulis for grinding roasted tomatoes.  I’m still as romantic as ever about tomatoes being the culinary equivalent of sunshine although this year we don’t have any shortage of the real thing. But without a greenhouse I’m sure I’d still be struggling along taking to daily prayer to bring in a crop.
In the past I have been diligent in my tomato sauce making but now I take the simplest route to home-made tomato sauce. Â Pick, wash, halve, roast with lashings of olive oil, salt and pepper for about an hour, grind the roasted tomatoes in the moulis, freeze. Â Couldn’t be simpler and quicker.
When the time comes to use the tomato sauce that’s when you can get all imaginative by adding butter, garlic, herbs, spices or a touch of chilli to warm it up. I’m researching nutmeg for my course at the moment so might throw caution to the wind and add a touch of the mystical spice to bring a little psychedelic aphrodisiac to the table. No kidding!
Beautiful tomatoes Juile, mine have come to sudden halt now it is cooling down. I just made a double batch of roast tomato sauce, I am hooked to the sweet flavour and so easy. Thanks for sharing. Nicola 🙂
Like Nicola, my tomatoes have pretty much ground to a halt now. Still got quite a few green ones though which I’m planning to harvest this week and spend a bit of time over Easter weekend making more of my green tomato cake, and some pickled green tomatoes as well. Thanks for the mention 🙂
Just beautiful Julie 🙂 Love the idea of keeping it simple & then concocting whatever takes ones fancy in the depths of winter when you need a little Summer 🙂