Michigan

[sarah92480]

Hi Sarah, I usually fill two large cookie sheets with tomatoes quartered and then add just one bell pepper and one onion on one of the cookie sheets. I sprinkle the tomatoes with garlic powder. Trouble is, that pepper cooks fast! Gotta watch it.
Onion gets dry if I don't cover it with olive oil and watch it. For that reason, I often saute the onion and pepper in a pot and then throw them in a blender.
I have my blender sitting on the counter and when the pepper is soft baked, I toss it in the blender. Let it sit there. Then the onion gets done, I toss it in the blender also. Then the smaller tomatoes look done - I taste one and if it is bursting with flavor - I put the smaller tomatoes in the blender. Then the larger tomatoes are done and I add them and some fresh basil to the blender and WHIRR....... roasted tomato sauce. I think that would make 2 quarts.
Then I serve it or freeze it.

Thanks a bunch! That gives me a better idea of how much to start with. I love this idea!

Is anyone else having issues with posting? I have no toolbar with fonts, colors or smilies

I am not, but I did find it weird that nobody was posting for a bit. It's not normal for this thread to go that long w/o somone saying something, hehe.

Not that that has stopped me from keeping opened onions

Same here! I've also heard that and thought it was odd...I believe it but I hardly ever use a whole onion at once & always refrigerate the unused portion to finish later. But I always store my onions in the fridge anyway, seems to burn my eyes less that way. It's also really bad to thaw your meat out on the counter but I've been doing it for many years and here I still am, haha.

 

[chicken grandma]

Not that that has stopped me from keeping opened onions

Gosh, I had not heard of that either! I have just been plain lucky I guess!

 

[theron]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Farmer boy - [/FONT] That sweetie looks like a Gladys to me.

Raz - I'm sorry your neighbor is still being crazy. I bet it's no accident that her husband took that job in GR, lol.

Yesterday one of my 6 week old chicks got out of the growing run and had an unfortunate run-in with my hens. She has a huge gash on her head that looks so awful. She is eating and drinking and seems in good spirits today. Yesterday I put Neosporen on it - I have no idea if that was a terrible idea or not, but I didn't know what else to do... Poor little baby.

I'm still obsessing over ducks... I really like the look and egg-laying of Welsh Harlequins, but keep thinking Muscovies would be a better (quieter) fit for my neighborhood yard. I'm just not a huge fan of the red skin on their face... I'm wondering if it would grow on me or if I'd always find them a little uncute... What do you all think? Go with the breed that appeals to me, or go with one that is maybe a better fit for my house? Theron, you have Scovies, right? Tell me about them.

Scovies are... how should I say this... awesome!! I have a trio of runners, used to raise pekins, and now I have 15 muscovies. They are super quiet. At first I wasn't too fond of the caruncling, but now it has started to grow on me. They are super nice. We have four that we trust so much that they free range all day. Some even eat from our hand. We plan on bringing a few muscovy ducklings to chickenstock, so maybe you can get some there.

We raise blacks, blues, chocolates, whites, and lilacs. We hope to get some lavenders in the near future.

 

[chicken grandma]

Thanks a bunch! That gives me a better idea of how much to start with. I love this idea!

Oprah Winfrey. I owe this lady a great deal for all the good information she shares. You might even find this roasted tomato sauce recipe on Oprah.com
I found it there last Summer.
It was a big hit at my house. I made the sauce, put it on pasta and

my kids eyes popped out just like that. They had only had store boughten sauce and they could not get over the difference. Of course MICHIGAN tomatoes are amazing. I lived in L.A. and Hawaii and we never had a blueberry or a tomato or an apple that tasted as good as we grow here.

 

[sarah92480]

Oprah Winfrey. I owe this lady a great deal for all the good information she shares. You might even find this roasted tomato sauce recipe on Oprah.com
I found it there last Summer.
It was a big hit at my house. I made the sauce, put it on pasta and

my kids eyes popped out just like that. They had only had store boughten sauce and they could not get over the difference. Of course MICHIGAN tomatoes are amazing. I lived in L.A. and Hawaii and we never had a blueberry or a tomato or an apple that tasted as good as we grow here.

Ive never been a big fan of Oprah, but she does have some pretty good ideas. Same with Martha sometimes. I wonder if I'll have any time this weekend...maybe I'll try it if I do, it's supposed to be raining all weekend I guess. Store boughten...haha. I have to find time to do homework on top of all the other chores I have so hopefully I can spare a couple hours to make this. I'll have to let you know how it turns out!!

 

[chicken grandma]

Lost my little rose, the one that was brooding.

Oh how sad! I lost two hens after they were broody. I wonder if the sitting that they do weakens them and allows other problems to emerge?
Fuzzy it is a natural thing for a hen to go broody and sit so all I can think of was that they must have had some weakness. I lost one to an egg laid the wrong direction after she was weak from being broody and I lost one to the respiratory infection. What do you think Rose died from?
Again, not your fault but still VERY VERY sad!

 

[Olive Hill]

I sincerely love this forum. I only froze my sauce because I don't know how to can. Thank goodness I froze the sauce because I had no idea that canning with garlic and olive oil could be harmful to us. Whew! Thanks for the info Olive!

Well, if you ever want to learn, let me know. I can throughout the growing season beginning with jams when the berries start ripening and heading right into the winter with sauces, condiments, meats, etc.

 

[RaZ]

I sincerely love this forum. I only froze my sauce because I don't know how to can. Thank goodness I froze the sauce because I had no idea that canning with garlic and olive oil could be harmful to us.

Canning isn't that difficult, just start with something easy like tomatoes or green beans. I've canned with both pressure cookers and simple boiling. For lunch I had a jar of green beans that I canned with a garlic clove. The date on the lid was 2010. So if it kills me, I'll post tomorrow and let you know.

Not that that has stopped me from keeping opened onions

I read a magazine article that claimed that most summer food poisoning came from the onions going bad and not the mayonaise. I can't vouch for the validity of the article but I'll keep open onions until they get soft and mushy. But then again, I eat raw hamburger.

 

[RaZ]

Well, if you ever want to learn, let me know. I can throughout the growing season beginning with jams when the berries start ripening and heading right into the winter with sauces, condiments, meats, etc.

I'd like to learn how to make jellies and jams.
I never knew you could can meat until I read about canned rabbit (on this thread if I remember correctly). I'd like to learn how to do that too.

 

[Olive Hill]

Quote: I'd like to learn how to make jellies and jams.
I never knew you could can meat until I read about canned rabbit (on this thread if I remember correctly). I'd like to learn how to do that too.

We can make that happen. Both are really easy.