Roswell Adventures

As 2013 winds to a close, my thoughts go towards reflection on the year. I try not to dwell on things that happened outside of my control. Rather I like to focus on my actions...and in-actions.  As I travel through a year's worth of reflections, one things stands out. Areas in which I had well-formed, clear-cut goals are the ones I feel better about.  For those areas where I did not have goals set I discovered something interesting. Either I was disappointed in the outcome, because I somehow did not measure up to an unstated goal, or I patted myself on the back for an achievement, which in retrospect was not a very challenging one. One area that really stands out as a disappointment to me is that of setting last year's New Year's Resolution. It was a really good idea - write more cards and letters to those I care about, with a special focus on the women in my life. Oh, I sent lots of cards to my female friends over the course of the year. I especially love to find cards...

I love Brussels sprouts. Of course had you suggested such a concept to me even a dozen years ago, I would have called you crazy. But it is official...I love Brussels sprouts! We have enjoy them a variety of ways... Steamed with a good, aged balsamic vinegar Roasted with olive oil Pan-seared with cranberries and blue cheese Hash...with bacon One day last week I peered into the fridge and noted some bacon and Brussels sprouts.  Mmmmm...hash! But then I noticed I had half a bag of cranberries left. Why not combine the recipes?   I cut the bacon into small chunks and started that cooking while I rinsed, trimmed, and quartered the sprouts. I rinsed and picked through the cranberries and chopped the onion.   When the bacon was cooked, I pulled it out of the pan and sauteed the onion in the bacon fat.   When the onion was translucent, I tossed in the sprouts and cranberries. I sauteed them a few minutes while I boiled so...

So, back before Thanksgiving we looked around at nearly 3 dozen large, ripe tomatoes needing to be used soon. We were heading out of town and knew we could get rid of a dozen or so, but that left us with about two dozen with an unknown future. I remembered talking with my dad about freezing tomatoes and decided to give it a shot. I rinsed the tomatoes and literally just stacked them on the dish towel-covered freezer shelf and left them there. I have since learned that additional prep can be done, but we were literally getting ready to wait for the roads to open so we could leave, so I wasn't up for anything that took much time. I knew I was supposed to wait until they were frozen and then put them in freezer bags, and I had good intentions of following through. However, it was really easy to convince myself that wasn't necessary since they wouldn't be there that long. So I let them set...until today. We really needed the freezer space and decided it would be awesome to ...

The Great Tomato Caper of 2013 started modestly with 6 heirloom tomato plants being planted in 3 straw bales. Expecting a season similar to 2012, Chuck built cages out of bamboo. And after a month or so, the tomato plants broke out of their cages and proceeded to produce pound after pound of tomatoes. We're guessing about 300 pounds of tomatoes...but that is a total shot in the dark as far as estimates go. Right before the first freeze we picked well over 100 pounds of green tomatoes. We fried some up and also made some green tomato pickles. Neither of these impressed me much - but it could be due to the inexperience of the chef. (a.k.a. Me). Here we are in the second week of December, and I was looking around the house at a significant number of red tomatoes - the ones we picked green but decided wanted to ripen. I had to do something, so I looked up into about making tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes...and this is what I morphed those ideas into... I started by slicing two med...

This year's tomatoes grown in straw bales exceeded all expectations! We planted 6 heirloom tomato plants in 3 bales. I only remember one variety - Brandywine. The other two were labeled at their base...but then the plants exploded out of their cages, and we couldn't find the markers.   We harvested over 100 pounds of fruit that we ate fresh - mainly with fresh mozzarella and basil along with olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar. We gave away lots more. Then the weather started to change, and in the middle of November we harvest over 100 pounds of green tomatoes. After giving away many, canning a bunch of green tomato pickles, and trying fried green tomatoes for the first time, we still had tomatoes ripening. So, when we had more than a dozen ripe when we got back from our Thanksgiving trip to Tucson, I had to get busy. I have made pico de gallo many times, I haven't tried a blended fresh salsa...so here goes! Start off by chopping medium-size tomatoes and cut out ...