The hubs has many talents in the kitchen, and while I am not a terrible cook, I tend to be pretty basic-- I don't think I would participate or observe as many fun kitchen projects without him. I just wouldn't think to brandy fruits or make pickles on my own, but with the hubs, these kinds of activities have become more common in my life.
When we started growing tomatoes last year in our beloved vegetable garden, we had to incorporate them into our meals fairly regularly. Our plants thrived that summer, as they are doing this summer, and we had more tomatoes than we knew what to do with. Salads, bruschetta, and gazpacho made frequent appearances in our kitchen, but we were ready to expand to something new yet simple. Then the answer came: tomato sauce!
Our tomato sauces were delicious, but we did not freeze any to have later in the year-- a silly oversight on our end. This year, though, just as our backyard tomatoes are starting to become plentiful, and our market-bought tomatoes are in need of some eating, we decided to make things right with tomato sauce. While we will go through the first batch of sauce pretty quickly, we will do so with the intention of preserving a few jars of homemade tomato sauce, made with our own backyard tomatoes.
I'm looking forward to visiting on a cold wintery weekend, making dinner with the hubs, and being reminded of these warm summer nights. As I am finding with each project we undertake with our backyard veggies and farmers market favorites, there is such a simple joy in creating treats that we can enjoy months later or pass on to friends and family. It is as though we are capturing tiny moments from our lives and our home and preserving them for a while longer, just enough for them to change and shift as the weeks and months pass yet still retain that first sliver in time.
