Roasted Some Tomatoes Today

It turned cooler today, hitting the 50sF this morning and by afternoon only in the low70s with a nice cool breeze.  An ideal day to turn on the oven low (275*F) for a couple of hours to roast some tomatoes.

I bought a gadget that holds up freezer bags so they can be filled without toppling or messing.  It works great.  I scooped up the roasted toms after removing the outer skins and filled some freezer bags.  Then into the freezer they went.
These tomatoes will be perfect to add to chili, sauces, and soups to give them an added desirable flavor.  I roast my tomatoes after stirring in salt, pepper, thyme, minced garlic and olive oil.
If you want the recipe, check back a few months to find it complete with pictures.

Have a nice day.

Sunflowers Are Raising Their Heads

A walk among the flowers this morning was colorful as usual.  I noticed the Sunflowers, both the tall ones and the shorter ones, are starting to bloom.

These have large heads and have flying visitors browsing among the seed heads.

These are shorter ones and their petals are brighter yellow.  So very pretty.

For a little contrast, the Russian Sage is in full bloom.

Peeking from among all the pink Morning Glories, imagine my surprise to find some blue ones poking up their lovely heads.

Most of them are not easily visible, hiding behind the others this morning.

Rudbeckia, aka Black-Eyed Susans, are rampant in several spots in our back garden.

The birch trees make a pretty background for this group of Rudbeckia this morning.

Its another sunny day and will reach the 80sF again today.  Its a very warm August for us but I find that a walk along the riverside for our suppertime stroll, my corgi Penny and I, is refreshing with a lovely breeze wafting across the water, cooling the area.

I am lucky to live in Maine where our summer temps are a bit higher than normal this month, but nothing like the high heat they are having in the western parts of the country.

Take care of yourselves.  Stay cool and drink plenty of water.

Project Keeping Me Busy

Its hot and I've been twiddling my thumbs a lot lately.  I was happy to have some projects to do today.

A neighbor bought three nice shirts but they were too tight around her arms.  She has a problem in that realm quite a bit with clothing.
She gave me the shirts, but I thought maybe we can fix it so she can wear them.
This one above is a trial fix.  I split the sleeve open and hemmed it back up but the sleeve falls wide so it should be more comfortable.  I hope this works for her.  If it does, I will fix the other two shirts the same.

Another neighbor loves the Microwave Bowl Cozy I gave her for Christmas last year and asked me if I would make her four.  She'd like to give them as gifts, too.

She wasn't fussy about colors so I went with what I had available which I knew were definitely 100% cottons.  These Cozies can only be made with cotton fabric, cotton thread, and cotton batting since they are used in microwave ovens.
These are the four I made and sent them to her apt. with a note they were a gift for being such a kind and charming neighbor.  She was out at the time so I left it on her doorknob.

Its been awhile since I sat and sewed at my machine and my neck is aching.  I have to get back in the groove when the temps get a bit cooler.  Even with my fan blowing in my direction in the bedroom where I sew, I was getting mighty warm today.

Temps. here are near 90*F but the humidity is high so it feels hotter than yesterday when it actually was 90* all day.

Have a nice day.

Canada Geese During Rain Storm

The rain sure doesn't stop them.

Yesterday, on Wednesday, our day was turning cloudy when this family with 5 teenage geese came strolling on the lawn.

Like a parade they marched together...…
You can barely see sentinel Dad thru the leaves of the trees on the right, standing guard.

Grazed together...….

Even snoozed together.

And when the rain came thundering down, they enjoyed the coolness of the rain and one took a refreshing drink from a newly-filled rain puddle.  Even now, the sentinel stands guard over his family, ever watchful.

This morning early, before the heat got worse, I took some shots of our two Morning Glory vines.

They are certainly thick with vines and flowers.

Both are growing out of huge planters against the back of our building, sharing space with herbs.

A close-up.  So very pretty in pink.

Unlike much of the country, our temps only soared to 87*F today, which was fine with me.  I had grocery shopping to do and that took nearly 4 hours traveling to the different stores along with my bussing buddies this morning.  I only needed to stop in 2 stores but we go to others as well to satisfy the needs of my traveling companions who always join me in our weekly shopping expedition.
Now I'm home to rest and enjoy the comfort of my a/c living room.

Have a nice day.

Summer Garden Walk on Aug 1, 2018

I brought out my camera this morning, but it was too foggy so couldn't take pictures.  I saw the Morning Glories looking fabulous though.

Later at noon-ish, my Penny and I took our stroll thru the garden.

Here's a look at Penny and some of the garden bed.

This is the view from the bottom of the garden.   Lots of lovely color.

Some of the Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susans) and white yarrow.

More rudbeckia under the birch tree.

Coneflowers come in many colors.  These are yellow and six feet tall.

These are raspberry-colored coneflowers.

We even have the original color, Purple Coneflowers.

One of the Turk's Cap Lilies is in bloom.

As is the Russian Sage.

We have Snowball Hydrangeas in our garden beds, but also here along the lawn's border.

This is so beautiful, but I can't recall the name of this flower.

In the shade of the building at the front of the house, are many varieties of Hosta. This one is fully blooming.

And on either side of our front entrance doors are these huge planters filled with summer flowers and hanging vinca.

I always enjoy walking with my dog each day and finding some new bloom just starting;

These little lavender clusters blooming among the yellow daisies are some I've never seen before.  They look like little burrs but then those 'burrs' open into spikey flower petals.

I fixed a dress for a neighbor who has offered to take me to my next doctor's appt. in December and received a jar of peanut butter from another.  That's usually a sign for me to make peanut butter balls to share in the building.  I've scheduled that for Friday.   I just tried one of the walnut brownies I made for snacking.  Mmmmm good.

Have a good day.

I Roasted Tomatoes to Freeze

Sorry to be missing so long.  Its been hot and I haven't been doing much of anything worth writing about.
The geese, bless them, are growing so fast and are so big.

I caught both families out grazing together a few days ago.  All looking well and intact.  They will be heading south in a couple of months.  You can notice the stalwart sentinels, one in each family, standing straight and tall, their long necks a good visual point to look for any dangers.

Roasted Tomatoes:
275* oven for 2 hours of roasting, turning once.

As for the tomatoes, my son took me to the farm so I could buy a few cartons of freshly-picked tomatoes to roast.  This time of year, they are the early types and I always found them to be a little less than flavorful and juicy.  But still, once roasted, they are great to freeze and put in chili, sauces and soups when the time comes.  The flavor is still enhanced by the roasting, even with early varieties.

The first thing I do is chop up some garlic and add it to a large mixing bowl....or two.  The tomatoes are washed in a colander and allowed to drip dry or I give them a wipe with a clean dish towel.  Then I cut them in half and remove the stem ends.

Its a simple procedure to nip out the stem ends when you've cut the tomato in half.

I put the tomatoes in large mixing bowls and add salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil to the tomatoes and give them several stirs to coat them well.

I preheat the oven to 275 degrees.  Place the tomatoes on foil-lined baking sheets cut-side up.  This is very important, putting them cut-side up first.

They will go in the oven and roast for one hour.  After that time, I remove the baking sheets and turn all the tomatoes over.

With them now skin-side up, they can roast for another hour.

'

When the 2nd hour is complete, I remove the baking sheets.  If you want to remove the skins before freezing, this is the time to do it.  Its so easy with the skin-sides up.  With a pair of tongs and a fork to hold the tomato in place, I just grab a bit of skin and lift.  It comes right off the tomato.

I write on the bags the items, peeled, roasted, and today's date and when the tomatoes have cooled, using a spatula, I shovel them into quart baggies with the triple seals. Tip the baking sheet and pour in any liquid on the sheet.   Press all the air out, and seal the bags.

These can keep safe and fresh for up to a year in the freezer.  I even use some of them for my current meal as a side dish.  The roasted tomatoes are sooooo very tasty warm from the oven.

Use the frozen tomatoes to add to your soups, chili, sauces and any dish calling for tomatoes.  The roasted flavor adds a special zing to any recipe.
I have frozen them with the skins on, too, and no problem later.  Sometimes a few skins are curled in the cooking and I remove them if they are large, but otherwise, I cook the whole thing.

You just toss the frozen contents into a pot of hot/warm liquid while they are still frozen and it will cook just fine.

I have given them to relatives and they give them high marks as well.  The added roasted flavor makes all the difference in a meal.  Try it, I'm sure you'll like it.

Have a good day.

The Geese Are Still Learning

I watched the 2 geese families again.  They are adamant about learning how to use their wings.

First the Nine Family arrived on the scene looking all grown up.

Then the Seven Family arrived thru the tall grass not far behind.

They all erupted into wings and jumps, both families.

It was tough for me to get clearer pictures of flight school, but they were all jumping and stretching those wings, both families.

Here's both families done with school and settling down to search for fodder.

Yup, its time to graze now after all that effort.  They have  to refuel with Poppa standing sentinel as usual.

They seem to come here as the day is waning.  Maybe they feel safer.  Less chance of a fisherman standing there with a reel in his hand.  In any case, I am enjoying this season with two families of Canada geese.

My Red Sox won another game putting them 4 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees.  That surely pleases me.  I watched my favorite player, JD Martinez, hit another home run, his 29th this year.  I am so glad I decided to choose baseball as a sport to follow this year.  Before now I hadn't followed any sport since the early 1970's when my husband was such a fan and we enjoyed them together.  About that time we got a second TV so I did not have to watch sports, enjoying other channels much more so I drifted away from sports entirely.   For me this is a great year to get back into sports again.  Then later in the year it will be the Boston Patriots football team.

Have a nice day.