K is for Ketchup

'Still been gardening all this time, but now I'm starting to harvest... tomatoes, no less so K is for ketchup! I found this ketchup recipe on Jay DeMay's blog. She has recipes for paleo and whole30 (right in line with my current eating plan) so I tried her ketchup recipe using my home-grown tomatoes. I love ketchup on so many things, but most store-bought varieties have too much sugar for me.

Using my latest tomato harvest, I whipped up a batch today using Cherokee purple, Costoluto Genovese and smaller stupice and punta banda. First, I cored the tomatoes, then chopped them and cooked them in a big pot until they were quite soft, about 30 minutes. After they cooled, I ran the whole batch through a ricer to remove the seeds and skin. It worked like a charm with a resultant velvety smooth tomato puree.

Jay's recipe calls for canned roasted tomatoes which I would have used too but I had fresh so that's what I went with. I've made ketchup before so I added some extra spices that I've used in previous batches. In her photos, the ketchup looks chunky but I wanted mine to be smooth like regular ketchup so I pureed it in the Vitamix. The taste and texture were perfect with just enough sweetness! Here's my recipe:

Paleo Whole30 Compliant Ketchup 

• 1/2 cup chopped, pitted dates
• 1 6-oz can tomato paste
• 1-1/2 cups of fresh tomato puree (cooked)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup bone broth or water
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon each of smokey paprika, cayenne, ground cloves, and ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Add all ingredients to a small saucepan.
2. Cook on medium low for 30 minutes and then turn heat off.
3. When cool, add tomato pulp to a ricer to remove the seeds and skin.
4. Blend in Vitamix for smoothest consistency.
5. Store in mason jars or similar jars in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. Yields 3 cups.

Grape Harvest 2014

Last year the birds and critters ate all of our grapes. This year they left some for us and there are still a ton on the vines. These are destined for grape jam.

Squash and Pumpkin Harvest

Today was harvest the squash and pumpkins day in the garden and here is the bounty...


I planted alot of everything but unfortunately I neglected this garden for most of the summer so didn't get as many pumpkins as I would have liked. Tons of acorn and butternut squash though!

Sorta sour grapes...

When Jack and I first settled into our home on a few small acres here in Nebraska, we toyed with planting fruit trees and a small vineyard. That was until I took the master gardening course in Lincoln and found out how much time and effort goes into tending grape vines! Not for me! I'm retired and have no illusions of being tethered to the vines, so to speak. We did plant two table grape varieties in our enclosed garden just for the fun of it and because... well, I love the color of grapes, will grow them just for that and leave the wine making to the experts. Their dusty, royal purple gets me every time. They don't even taste really great, but I simply don't care. This is the sum total of our harvest after two years growth. Beautiful, I think.

A Vintage Flower

A friend reminded me I hadn't posted to my blog in a really long time... has it really been more than a month? This spectacular peony is just one of the reasons I've been blog lazy. Gardening is my great passion and peonies are my favorite flower... I planted this one three years ago. So beautiful and the fragrance is heavenly.

I'm still thrifting too... bought a huge stack of vintage cookbooks at an estate sale last week but haven't had a chance to sit down and poke through them. There are seedlings to plant and a garden to water... soon though. Hope everyone is having a wonderful summer thrifting and gardening!