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September 27, 2006

Thanks!

Thanks to Jeannette for the cool new banner. And thanks to Karen for pointing out this hilarious Hobbit video.

Heeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by Tim and Jo at 7:00 PM | Comments (3)

September 13, 2006

Tomatoes!

So, following up the Amish in the Inner City post, Jeannette said that this appears to be a state-wide initiative. I did a little digging out of curiosity, and found this site. The idea is simple and brilliant.


We found a bushel (!) of tomatoes on sale at the farmer’s market for just $8.00. After gazing longingly at it, and wondering if it would turn into a messy misadventure (like last summer when I tried to can strawberry jam with one hand, with a broken thumb on the other), and gazing at it some more, we gave in and bought it. Turns out the bushel yielded 78 tomatoes. Still haven’t figured out how many pounds that is.

I loved looking at their redness, spread out on our table. Over the past couple of weeks, I've made many several concoctions with them, getting ready for the bleak Pittsburgh winter, when skies are grey and tomatoes are pink and mealy.

I began by throwing together a curried tomato-zucchini bisque (with coconut milk added at the end) in the crockpot. Then I made a couple of tomato sauces--one in the crockpot, and another on the stove-top with sausage. And then a couple of salsas, an easy pico de gallo, and a roasted tomato-chipotle salsa. While I was roasting the tomatoes, I roasted some for soup, and later made a Mexican spiced tomato soup (to have with quesadillas on cold days). And finally, I made a fresh basil and tomato sauce.

After one of my marathons, it looked as though I had killed someone in our kitchen, the stove and counters covered in pulpy gore as red juice streamed relentlessly down the cabinet fronts. Thankfully I cleaned it up before anyone arrived on the scene. ;-)

Phew, Tim's a bit tomatoed out at the moment, but I like looking at the pretty red rows in the freezer (no canning adventures this year).

Posted by Tim and Jo at 9:07 PM | Comments (1)

Tea-time!

Phew, the first couple of weeks of school are always so busy. I taught my first three hour class this past Saturday morning, a distance learning version of Introduction to Western Art Music. I could see their eyes glazing over, as I tried (to little avail) to step up my own energy level as the hours wore on. Maybe I'll bring donuts next time. Thankfully, it only meets three times as semester.

Enough of that, here's a fun website I stumbled on, a map of teahouses all over the U.S., with reviews and fun info. There's one just three miles from us that I've never visited. My tea-loving old roommate Grace is coming up to visit in a couple of weeks, and it'll be fun to have tea-time together.

And there are a couple near our vacation spot next week in Cape May.

Posted by Tim and Jo at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)