Today we continue with our to-do's. The past several weeks have been busy with harvesting garden vegetables, especially the tomatoes which are producing like gangbusters. Besides eating them each day, I have put away many quarts in the freezer. I used to process jars in a boiling hot water bath, but have found that the majority of our winter usage is for soups and stews, thus blanching for a minute or two, quickly rinsing in cold water, removing the skin and core, quartering and placing them in quart freezer bags, is a quicker process and serves our needs quite nicely.
My husband helped yesterday by cutting up pounds of the smaller cherry and Sungold's for Bruschetta. Recipes call for removing the skin, but we do not due to the size of the tomato we use. He cuts each into half, then quarters, then into tiny bite size pieces; I add fresh chopped garlic and basil, just a smidgen of Kosher salt, ground pepper, a touch of olive oil, and sometimes a tiny bit of balsamic. Served atop a grilled piece of our favorite multi-grain bread (with a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil), and we can actually make it a meal in itself. Here is a recipe from SimpleRecipes.com for Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil that gives you a guideline and an idea as to how it looks. Um, um!
So for now I am ready for an exciting day... I'm headed out to help a friend can dill pickles. Have a great one and see you soon.
