Meals In Jars ... Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken Noodle Soup

1) I sauteed the chicken and vegetables with some herbs in a bit of olive oil and then froze it in a Food Saver bag. Of course, you could can it as well, as long as you keep the noodles separate.

 2) A quart of homemade chicken stock

 3) A pint of uncooked egg noodles.

Dump the stock in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer for about 8 minutes. Add the chicken and veggies and continue to cook until everything is heated through.

Enjoy!

Harvest Monday ... They're Ba...ack!!

I really did have the best intentions of keeping my blog up to date ... but we had an unusually long, warm summer here in the Pacific Northwest which resulted in ...

I have been spending my days the last couple of weeks harvesting and preserving tomatoes without much time for anything else ...

This is what I picked just this morning ...

Today I'm going to do the harvest side of the tomato report and join with the other gardeners on Daphne's Dandelions and then for Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard with Robin I'll share photos and recipes for all the goodies I have been putting up.

First, the Keepers.

The star performer this year was San Marzano.  The plant, a semi-determinate heirloom, was a gift from my gardening friend Dorothy and will be on my "must grow" list from now on.

I have harvested close to a hundred of these pear shaped paste tomatoes and there are still at least that many still ripening on the plant!

Another winner was Amish Paste.  Another heirloom, this was my first year growing this variety and it's a definite keeper.

These are really big paste tomatoes.  It is a late season variety and I need to remember to get it started early so all of the fruit can ripen before the first frost.

An oldie but goodie, my Cherokee Purple outperformed itself this year ...

Another heirloom, these are huge beefsteak tomatoes ... great tasting and great for slicing onto a hamburger or BLT.

Another gift from Dorothy, Indigo Rose was a bit of a surprise.

The fruits are much smaller than I expected them to be, but their unusual color and taste made them a perfect addition to a salad.

And finally another all time favorite, Sweet 100.  There have been many "upgrades" to this variety but the original is still my choice for a cherry tomato.

And the list of "don't bother with these again" ...

Oregon Spring: grows and produces well but the fruits are tasteless and a bit meally.

Sungold: I just don't like the way these taste.

Saucy Paste: not as prolific as Amish Paste or San Marzano and much smaller fruits.

Brandywine: I can never get this one to grow well.


The "give them one more chance" list ...

Siletz: plants were mislabeled and accidentally discarded.

Stupice:               ditto

Micro Tom: I over planted the basket.


And finally the list of "new to me" that I will try next year ...

Bloody Butcher, Moskovich and Marmande.

That's it for the tomato harvest report of 2012 ...

Enjoy!

Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard ... Enchilada Sauce

Here is a before and after picture of my home canned enchilada sauce...

You can find the recipe and directions for the sauce here on the Canning Homemade web site. I did add one of my home grown cayenne peppers for a little heat ... it tastes great! I had a can of "Old El Paso" sauce in the cupboard ... the ingredients include MSG, soy protein, yeast extract and soybean oil ... I'm not going to miss any of those in my home canned version. Thanks for the recipe, Cindy!

I am adding this to Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard. Join Robin to find out what others are cooking up from their garden produce.

 Enjoy!

I'm Back ... and Pippin!

Wow!  I just realized that it has been almost a month since I posted.  Things have been very busy here on the Cove!  First I has held hostage by  my new loom for quite a while; weaving is totally addicting! (Photos coming soon, Laura :)  Then there were 80 pounds of tomatoes to be canned, an update/remodel of the garage pantry to make it more earthquake proof (post coming soon), planting the fall/winter garden (another post soon) and, most recently, traveling to Spokane to bring home our new puppy!

This is the photo I fell in love with when I saw it on the Silver Paw Cavachons blog.

Mike and I drove to Kristy's home in Spokane on Sunday to meet him ... it was love at first sight.  We named him Pippin (after one of the hobbits in Lord of the Rings).

Today he is exploring his new home ...

... getting to know his new best friend ...

... and just hangin' out with the rest of the pack.

I'll post about all the rest of the gardening and home keeping activities soon, but today I need to finish Pippin proofing the backyard (he's small enough to get through the fence).

Enjoy!