Our tomatoes are getting ripe and beautiful.
So, it's time to start canning for winter.
I gathered tomatoes, onion, and fresh basil
and started cooking them down . . .
to make my marinara sauce.
Clean empty jars . . .
Soon looked like this :)
So far we have made three batches.
I see many Italian dishes on our table
this winter . . . Yum :)
While picking the garden
I can hardly come inside without
a pretty bouquet for the table.
Have a sweet day.
We have family coming to visit.
I barely got my house cleaned
after the granddaughters visit,
and more company is arriving today.
It'll be nice to see them
and catch up on family news.
Until next time,
Keep Smiling!
Your blogging sister,
Connie :)
Isn't it satisfying to store such lovely home grown produce! My tomatoes have finished now, but the freezer is full.
ReplyDeleteI love being able to put food up from our garden to last us through winter. That and knowing that I grew it without chemicals and canned it without perspectives that I can't pronounce . . . salt, lemon or vinegar is okay with me.
DeleteYum. It will be nice to enjoy your garden on those cold winter days.
ReplyDeleteYou bet! We love it :)
DeleteHow wonderful! We love Italian food and eat it often! Enjoy your company! Hugs!
ReplyDeleteWe love it, too! Thanks so much for popping in to say hello :)
DeleteConnie, I love seeing your crops. :):) Oh that sauce will be so tasty come winter. Better than store bought. I love the fancy rolls from the previous post. Blessings, xoxo, Susie
ReplyDeleteThose apple rolls are so easy . . . I'll be baking them again when we start getting local apples. Autumn is just around the corner and I'm looking forward to apples :)
DeleteThe sauce and the flowers are beautiful! That sauce will be a wonderful taste of summer in the winter!
ReplyDeleteI've only been canning for the last couple of years, but I get so much pleasure from it. It is so nice to have the place to grow a big garden :)
DeleteYour marinara sauce looks so good. The little bouquet looks pretty on the table.
ReplyDeleteYou'll be all ready for company.
Thanks for stopping by to visit. We have had more company this year that any year of our marriage . . . it's been very sweet catching up with friends and family. I'm doing canning in between visits and when I have a little time even when they are here. Winter is coming and I want my shelves filled :) It feels so good looking at those shelves with home canned goods lined up like little soldiers :)
DeleteThat sauce looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteI do love canning, though we still need to use up the stuff I canned last year.
I have been wanting to do some sweet and sour sauce, but have yet to give it a try.
Have a wonderful time with your company :)
~K.
Sweet and sour sauce, do you have a good recipe? I might like to give that a try, too :)
DeleteI spent the morning canning applesauce, and as I write, salsa is simmering away on the stove. I, too, love putting food away for the winter. Your marinara sauce looks wonderful, and I can imagine the lovely smell in your house while you made it.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your time with your company.
Hi Lorrie, I'm going to start making salsa for winter, probably tomorrow . . . we love that stuff. I like using it as dressing on my salads as well as using it for Mexican dishes. Steve's nephew grows apples so they will soon be ready and I plan on canning some applesauce this year, too. I've never done apple sauce before. Do you have a good recipe for canning it?
DeleteOh my goodness that sauce looks delicious! I’m sure that it will taste wonderful this winter. What a gorgeous bouquet of flowers. Have fun with your company!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, Betsy
Hi Betsy, thanks for popping in to say Hi . . . I love reading your comments, your blog and getting to know you better. I do hope that the smoke is clearing up for you. We are wishing for a good thunder storm followed by clear blue skies :) Breathing this stuff, has kept me inside more than I want to be this time of the year.
DeleteYou tomatoes look great. I surely hope the recent rain will help mine. Our harvest is not so great.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear that. Maybe there is still time this season to turn that around and give you plenty for canning.
DeleteHow pretty and tasty that sauce looks in those jars! I need to can a few now.
ReplyDeletebetsy
I love the shelves that Steve built me in the kitchen, it brings me pleasure just looking at them and knowing that we have a good supply for the winter :)
DeleteIt's time to reap the bounty from your beautiful garden.
ReplyDeleteIt is starting to come on strong . . . we'll be starting salsa in a day or two :)
DeleteWow one things for sure you and your husband will be eating some good foods through the winter. My gram canned tomatoes just like you that would be the start of the sunday "Gravey" as the Italians call it better known as Pasta sauce so the marinara is the base and she would add sausage and meatballs and Brashawl a thin piece of beef spiced with garlic and cheese and rolled and tied with cooking string oh my good the delicious smell coming from the kitchen just like your kitchen I bet. The marinara is a great base for pizza, pasta chili and so much more Enjoy your harvest! Lisa @ Sweet Tea N' Salty Air
ReplyDeleteOh, I'll bet Sunday dinners at your Grams were amazing. She would love knowing that you hold those time as a treasure in your memories :)
DeleteOh, that marinara is looking so good! Will be extra delicious in the winter, that's for sure. Enjoy your company!
ReplyDeleteWinter will be so different this year . . . Steve is retired and we plan on staying home and hibernating when the roads are bad. Our pantry filled with canned goods will be wonderful :) Looking forward to being cozy, warm and well feed, LOL.
DeleteThat sauce looks delicious. You are a busy woman. I bet folk just love visiting you. Everything looks so warm and inviting and I'm sure you make everyone feel welcome.
ReplyDeleteYou know I pray a lot about that; I want our home to be filled with love, hospitality and charity. It can only be that way with the help of the Lord, He can work out all the bumps and lumps in my heart and keep it tender and kind. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement and your blogging friendship.
DeleteI have never made marinara sauce but I am going to make some this year for sure. It looks delish! We are canning tomato juice tomorrow. My Shug and I have a routine down and we use a machine I’ve had for years called a victorio strainer.
ReplyDeleteCindy
I looked your strainer up on Amazon. . . looks like a good one. If our grapes were all purple I might try canning grape juice. Today I'm going to start making our winter salsa :)
DeleteSo wonderful to have these for those winter months when you want something fresh from the garden!!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great time with more family!
Thank you. They were only here overnight. We were not sure of their plans, but they were in a hurry to get to Portland and have time with their grandsons before school started. Then on to Arizona for the winter visiting family along the way :)
DeleteThat marinara sauce sounds so delicious! And the flowers are so pretty! Enjoy your company. Nancy
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy, and thank you so much :)
DeleteIt looks delicious Connie! I'm hoping to have enough to make salsa soon, but they are ripening slowly. Pretty flowers make for a happy home!! :)
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann
I think all the forest fire smoke is blocking the sun enough that the tomatoes are ripening slower than most years. I planted many plants so that helps a lot.
DeleteYou have me craving pasta and marinara now and it's only breakfast time.
ReplyDeleteThat picture of you and your cowboy is adorable.
italian food is one of your all time favorites, so we will truly be enjoying our sauce this winter. If you lived closer we would invite you to dinner :)
DeleteSuch a wonderful and delicious taste of summer in those dreary winter days. I am thrilled that you have more visitors. I am excited as our eldest daughter, her husband and the two boys arrive tomorrow, exciting times.
ReplyDeleteIt's always wonderful to see family :)
DeleteOh Connie what a beautiful blog you have created, the sauce looks amazing the cinnamon roses, oh my gosh,, thank you for visiting me and I will enjoy following along with you,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much . . . I always enjoy making new blogging friends. It will be a pleasure following along and getting to know you better. Thanks so much for following me, I truly appreciate it :)
DeleteHi Connie!!! :) Oh your flowers are just so pretty!! :) I've been canning too. I got some Marinara done but there is more of that in my future. We're heading to the local market soon to try to get a big stash of tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteOh, if you lived closer I would share some of mine with you :) I'm still canning, but after a while they just get out of hand . . . although this smoke from the forest fires is blocking the sun and they are not ripening like they have in the past. Happy canning!
DeleteThe dahlia's are incredibly beautiful and look great in the pitcher. My "garden" gave me enough tomatoes to eat out of hand, not much else. My hope and prayer is, by Spring 2019 I'll be totally moved in to my new to me place and able to live more and unpack less..lol.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your new place. It is always fun to decorate and make it home.
DeleteThanks for stopping by to visit :)
Your sauce is gonna be great for you Italian dishes. Im married to an Italian and we rarely eat Italian food but he can make a killer lasagna with his homemade sauce.
ReplyDeleteLisa
Yum . . . what time is dinner, we'll be there. LOL
DeleteHomemade sauce, yummy!! Hope you enjoy all your company.
ReplyDeleteIt will be nice having this sauce in the cupboards for winter . . . it's so much better when you make it from scratch :)
DeleteI can whole or juice mine so I can make them into a variety of dishes. I like to juice the cherry ones to make a bright sauce called Pacino in Italy.
ReplyDeleteSounds delightful. I have been eating so many tomatoes this summer . . . I can't walk through the garden without eat one on the spot, LOL.
DeleteConnie, look at those ripe tomatoes! That's wonderful that you are start to do some canning for Winter. Your marinara sauce looks delicious. Your bouquet of flowers looks pretty on your table, and I like that pitcher they're in. I just bought some spaghetti and sauce for dinner tonight. I was craving Italian! Always enjoy your charming posts, Connie.
ReplyDeletelove, ~Sheri
You just can't beat spaghetti . . . we love it :)
DeleteAnother great thing to do with all those tomatoes! I don't have as many this year, so just eating alot off the vine. I still have frozen salsa left from last year.. I made it too spicey! Oh well..... live and learn. I'm not into canning so much anymore.. did it for YEARS when my kids were little. I may do a little here and there when the mood strikes me (which isn't often)! I love seeing all your pretty jars lined up in a row on the shelf. I would love to have more room in my kitchen for shelves.. and I think I WOULD line them with some canned goods. They are so pretty and festive and homey. Glad you are enjoying family time... is always good for the heart and soul (though sometimes I go overboard trying to clean too much and make everything pefect). I know my mom didn't do that when we all visited her and my dad when we were adults with our own kids! I would see the dust bunnies and dust on the furniture (sometimes) and a bathroom not quite so clean, and never think a thing about it! We are too hard on ourselves! Take care.... enjoy enjoy.. and when is your next camping trip???? Hugs.. Marilyn
ReplyDeleteYou made it too spicy? I didn't know there was such a thing, LOL. We like it hot and spicy around here :)
DeleteOOO, my...all that sauce looks amazing....
ReplyDeleteThank you . . . it's so nice to make your own and can from the garden. I've only been doing it for the last three years. I'm a late bloomer, LOL.
Delete