the weekend & a recipe

minus photos as I have no camera battery right now :(  super sad!!

Saturday: Sammy had a checkup @ the vet, then I picked up 30+# of tomatoes @ the local farmer's market, then we spent the day @ the Iowa State Fair!! I love the state fair.  The people watching, the food, the exhibits, the food, the people watching, the exhibits. We even ended up spending much of the night there too, totally unplanned LOL those darn co-workers of Tim's that keep a cup in his hand ;)

Sunday: Tim slept in... hmmmm wonder why ;) but I was up & running ready to do those tomatoes!  I remembered (all too well) the misery I was in after spending 4 hours on my feet cleaning tomatoes last year so I set myself up on the living room floor w/a bowl of scalded+iced tomatoes, a bowl w/a sack in it for the compost & an empty one for the clean pieces, a towel & washcloth.  I watched Knight & Day on blu-ray then Mister Eleven on Netflix stream while I cleaned my tomatoes.  Then they simmered all afternoon w/veggies & seasonings to make seasoned sauce YUMMMM 3 quarts & 2 pints later, TADA! I was even pretty good @ keeping up w/my mess this time  ;)  planning another round each of the next 2 Sundays.

here is the recipe I use:

Seasoned Tomato Sauce
(from the ball blue book of canning)
yield: about 14 pints or 7 quarts

45 # tomatoes
6 cups chopped onions
12 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 TBS oregano
6 bay leaves
1 TBS black pepper
1 1/2 TBS sugar
1/4 c salt (optional)
2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
bottled lemon juice

Wash tomatoes, drain, remove core, & blossom ends. Cut into quarters; set aside. Saute onions & garlic in olive oil in a large saucepot. Add tomatoes, oregano, bay leaves, black pepper & sugar. Stir in salt and crushed red pepper, if desired. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaves. Puree tomatoes using a food processor or food mill. Strain puree to remove peels & seeds. Cook pulp in a large, uncovered sauce pot over medium-high heat until sauce thickes, stirring to prevent sticking. Reduce volume by one-half. Add 1TBS lemon juice to each hot pint jar, 2TBS to each quart jar. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 35 minutes, quarts 40 in boiling-water canner.

linking up with the girls over at:

A girl's weekend & my mouth

sorta. :)  Friday night was a group of us going to see Eclipse @ our local lil theater. SO FUN!!! Great Movie! cannot wait for Nov' 11 for Breaking Dawn to start!! :)  I haven't done a girls' movie night. EVER. definately something we agreed, we want to do more often!! After the movie we hit 2 bars.. coulda done w/o that part but it was still time w/the girls.

Saturday was an all day crop! I was afraid I'd not get my groove back after a 3 month hiatus but OH MAMA!! I pumped out all 11 pages of our 2004 4th of July!!! All between 10 & 5! GET OUT! I had to leave an hour early b/c I was out of pictures. That NEVER happens to me! lol  I had a great time catching up w/Steph, we haven't hungout since the PTCO crop in March & visiting w/some other girls I've not had the chance to get to know. we got a terrific binder & I won 3 door prizes!!! Over all, it was a GREAT TIME!!!

Sunday I was lazy! L.A.Z.Y. I hadn't eaten anything worthy in a couple of days & my energy level was an all time low. I didn't even care!!! I watched Burn Notice on the dvr :) then napped, then we watched The Bounty Hunter after Tim mowed the Ayers Property. GREAT MOVIE! I laughed so hard!!  OH & we watched the Christopher Titus stand up routine 'love is evol' Saturday night LOOOOVED IT!! but I loved his sitcom shows too.

on a good note- I did make myself get on the treadmill last night to get c25k w5d2 done! I was so close to blowing it off, putting it off until tonight, then doing day 3 on Wed, but that would put my 'training' off of my original schedule & I just hated that thought.  I am already fearful of not making the whole 5k in running/jogging mode, and having to walk the majority is so not in my 'plan'.  I have gotten so many others talked into joining me, that now I feel I have to be at my best (for the time) since they will be there. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut & done the first one alone. hmmm a lil late now.  Tho I am pretty sure I know how.  The Keeping my mouth shut part.  When I get excited about something -scrapping, running, c25k, sisterhood, drinking water, child development studies, camping, boating, canning, eating whole foods, bulk shopping, etsy, farmer's markets, etc- I share all that I know to anyone who will listen. :)

OH, speaking of the sisterhood, there is a new challenge going on!!  Down & Dirty in 30!!  This is my first team challenge @ the 'hood & I have to admit I am more than a bit intimidated! Plus, I heard the word SHRED *gulp* I am not sure I am ready to shred while doing the c25k program. I might have to bow out of the shred & do my 10 minute target sessions from  netflix to keep from killing myself in the next 30 days, yet not let my team down.

so there you have my past weekend & plans for the week.. its now taken me 3 times of sitting to get it all typed up .. ah Monday!  some are cranky, some are tired & some are just unhappy about the rain that's coming down out side preventing us from BEING out there. time to get the play dough out!! :)   I think I'll bake some banana muffins too.  Hope you have a GREAT week!!!