Catch Up

What do you do when friends give you a huge bag of tomatoes?  Make ketchup, of course.  I have a little bit of a fear of canning tomato sauce after reading about it in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle where the idea of balancing the acid is discussed so as not to get sick from the sauce.  I could, no doubt master this with my science-y background but sometimes I don't like to think so much when I cook.  I did end up making a small amount of sauce but froze it instead.  Plus, we just don't eat that much pasta at our house.  So, I was looking for something else.  D eats a lot of ketchup with his breakfasts, so it seemed perfect.  I found a recipe in Home Made by Yvette Van Boven.  You can see the results above.  It's quite delicious.  The flavoring came from red pepper, onion, vinegar, sugar plus some ginger, paprika, nutmeg, coriander and a bit of clove.  I believe the balance of the tomatoes and vinegar in this recipe addresses the acid issues.  This was one of my first canning efforts of the year and really ever.  I think it turned out well.  And I did have to share some of my wares with friends, especially the friends who shared their tomatoes.  But we will continue to enjoy it this winter.

I was thinking about catching you up on what has been happening in my life this year, but it seems a bit too daunting.  Very briefly, I will say that D and I started a new chapter in our life together with a big party, I moved twice, and I taught a large (>100 students) course for the first time.  It has been a busy time with lots of excitement and changes.