Using up fresh tomatoes....

I have a good recipe for pasta sauce, but it relies on canned ingredients.  This past Friday, we visited with DH's brother and sister in law, and they shared bags full of garden bounty with us.  Hubby will not eat fresh tomatoes and I knew that I wouldn't be able to eat all of them before they went bad, so I went on a hunt for ways to use them up in something that we would both enjoy.  I combined a bunch of ideas and this is what I came up with.  It smelled amazing while it was cooking. We ate it over spaghetti, and found it really tasty.

Crockpot Tomato Pasta Sauce, (using fresh tomatoes)

1 to 2 tsp of olive oil
Minced garlic to taste, fresh or dried, (I used 2 tsp dried minced garlic)
2 or 3 small white onions, finely diced (any sort of onion would work),
5 to 6 cups of chopped tomatoes, (I seeded mine, but it isn't necessary)
1 medium zucchini, diced into small pieces
1 large carrot, shredded
1/4 cup of red wine (I think you could probably leave this out)
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp each dried fennel seed, thyme, and rosemary
1 tsp salt (more if desired)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, more if you like spicy sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste


I used a 5 quart crockpot, which would have been able to handle double of this recipe.  Turn it on high, and add enough olive oil to just barely cover the bottom.  Toss in the chopped onions and garlic, give it a good stir to coat everything with oil, and put the lid on the pot.  Let this cook while you prepare the tomatoes.   After a while, this will start to sizzle and the onions will brown a bit.  (This step isn't necessary, but it brings out the taste of the onions and garlic.)

Meanwhile, wash and chop the tomatoes and zucchini.  I seeded the tomatoes, (hubby's request), but did not peel them.(I would add some chopped fresh green pepper, and maybe some mushrooms, if I were the only one eating this.). By this time the onions in the pot should be sizzling nicely.  Add all the rest of the ingredients to the pot, except for the fresh basil.  Stir well.  Cook on high for an hour or two.  Once it is boiling, turn the pot to low and let it simmer for 3 to 4 hours.  It will likely be somewhat thin, so at this point, I turn it back up to high, add the basil, and uncover it about halfway so that some of the liquid evaporates.  I have an oval shaped crockpot and I just turned the lid sideways.  When it has reached the desired consistency stir in the tomato paste.  It took a couple of hours for the sauce to get nice and thick. This would probably vary, depending on the type of tomato used, and the consistency desired.

I think that this would freeze well, although I haven't tried it.

It was my plan to let the sauce cool and then run it through the blender, (a food mill would work too), as hubby does not like lumps in his food.  Surprisingly, he told me not to bother.  He even had two helpings.

Lots more flowers in bloom

My hydrangeas are exceptionally prolific this year.

Here are endless summer (pink) and Annabelle hydrangeas (white). The Annabelle hydrangeas are one of the most carefree flowers I've ever grown. I cut a bunch of them every fall and put them in vases to dry. They turn a beautiful ivory color and I keep them all winter.

A Walk in the Garden

Sweet William
Coreopsis
I can practically smell the sweet scent of this pink peony.

Still more blooms

Lots more things in bloom this week. I didn't get pictures of all of them, but here are a few. More poppies, red ones this time.
A purple iris. these are taller than the yellow ones I have, and have much skinnier leaves. the leaves are almost grass like.They don't multiply as quickly as the yellow ones either.
This is known to me as Jupiter's Beard. I can't remeber what the real name of it is.
A flowering shrub, Wiegella.
The first rose of the season.

More things blooming!

This is a pink variety of lily of the valley. I only planted white ones, but a few years ago, some pink ones appeared among the white ones, and each year there seem to be a few more. They smell just as good as the white ones.


This plant goes by the unlikely name of trailing pink soapwart. The plant is only about 6 inches tall and is literally covered with these tiny pink flowers.

This is some sort of perennial salvia. The flowers are a very clear shade of blue.

This is a rhododendron that we planted when we moved into our house about 30 years ago. It is taller than the house. The color is more pink than this picture shows.

Look at What's Blooming!!

I went for a walk around our property today, and was pleasantly surprised to find so many things in bloom.

This is a surprise plant. It's a variety of Lamium, and it is one that I discarded in the woods last year. I like the vari-colored leaves and it's trailing habit for my porch pots, and I dumped the entire planter in the woods when I cleaned up last fall. The soil around this plant is still a flower pot shaped hump. I think I'll dig it up and put it in a pot again this year.








Irises and lilacs are among my favorites. I received the yellow irises from a friend and they've multiplied quite a bit. This one is growing at the edge of the woods. I suspect I must have gotten tired of planting them and tossed it there.



Here's my first oriental poppy of the year. I grew this one and about a dozen more poppy plants from a packet of seed I bought for 10 cents at a yard sale a few years ago.



This is lunaria, a biennial. It's pretty, but a nuisance plant, self seeding with abandon. One plant can turn into dozens in just a few years. I pull most of the seedlings out, but I think its pretty, so I always leave a few and resign myself to the task of keeping it from taking over. It's the one that produces those pretty dried seed pods that are round and silvery, hence the common name, silver dollar or money plant.



This is a redbud tree in bloom. My father in law grew it from seed, and its growing at the edge of the wooded area around our house.





These beautiful blue and white Columbines are one of the most carefree flowers I ever planted. They grow without any pampering whatsoever. I just tossed a few seed where I hoped they would grow, and they did. The only problem is that they do self seed quite badly. No problem though, I just dig up the plants and give them away or plant them elsewhere. If I'm really on the ball, I can solve the problem by taking the seed heads off the plants before they open. These plants produce tons of seeds, many of which I've collected and given away.

The dogwood trees are also in bloom as is some of the wild honeysuckle, but I didn't feel like fighting my way into the woods to get their pictures.