Oh How I Love It...

When he does the cooking!

I love to cook, being in the kitchen is where I feel my most calm and collected. However, it was not until David took a week off recently that I realized how much I do love having someone cook for me! He did all the menu planning and grocery shopping, and oh was I spoiled! Throughout the week we had a camembert pasta, sausage and barley soup, a platter dinner (bread, cheese, pickled veggies, fruit) and David's famous lasagna... he even made an extra batch of bolognese sauce for the freezer! I am already looking forward to this happening again!

Roasted Tomatoes... like gold!

Every late summer and early autumn you will find me doing the kitchen dance with a mess of tomatoes. Once the tomatoes come in here in Oregon it is a mad rush for me to process as many as I can before the first frost. I always, always, always roast many-a-tomato for sauce and this year I added this Carrot-Tomato soup to my "Must make during tomato season" list. (we now have about 8 batches of soup in our big freezer waiting for those rainy days when all that will soothe you is tomato soup and grilled cheese).

Each week I pick whatever tomatoes have turned in my backyard and I also buy anywhere from 10- 15 lbs from the little tomato lady at our farmers market (she has recently started bringing her chickens to the market too... who knew you could sell laying hens at the market!) AND, this year I was surprised to find a huge bucket of tomatoes (maybe 25 lbs) in the back seat of my car after school one day... it helps to share your love of roasting tomatoes with the computer teacher who loves to grow tomatoes!
When I am ready to roast I slice all the tomatoes into slices that are maybe 1 inch thick. I pour a nice amount of olive oil onto two baking sheets, lay the tomato slices in a single layer, and top with more olive oil. I then sprinkle salt, pepper, some oregano and sugar onto the tomatoes. And, into the oven they go, set at 300. Depending on how thick I have sliced them, I let them roast anywhere from 3- 4 hours... and wow will your house smell delightful!

When they are roasted to my liking, it really is an exact science, as you can see, I then put them through a food mill with the coarsest blade (a food processor would work, but I like that the food mill keeps the skins out of the sauce). After the tomatoes have gone through the mill I then let them cool on the counter and into my ball freezer containers they go! For sauce I always use the two cup size container (two cups is what you get in a can of sauce or a can of diced tomatoes).

I try to process enough tomatoes that we won't have to buy any tomato sauce throughout the year... we have never made it to another tomato season with roasted tomatoes still in the freezer. In the dark of winter, this sauce really is like golden sunshine! We tend to use it for all sorts of everything- in soups, casseroles, as pizza sauce, a sauce for polenta and of course good old pasta.

on the left you can see the soup, on the right is the sauce

Greek Festival

Where could all the Greek Americans in the greater Portland area be found last weekend? Why the Greek Festival of course! Last Sunday found us eating our way through the Greek Festival and oh was Papou happy, he waits for those loukoumades all year long! We had a wonderful time, and left with very full bellies, just the way those Greeks like it!

Our first, yes first, batch of loukoumades

Aren't those the faces of people who have been waiting months to eat little fried bundles of honey?

After the loukoumades we moved on to kourambiedes, of which we voted and decided that we like Papou's better

After all those sweets I of course needed a Frappe

So did she...

And then it was on to the main event... the lamb! Somehow I made friends with this little old YaYa in a dress that looked like the Greek flag. Well, her husband just happened to be the pit master and needles to say, I somehow found us first in line for the first lamb of the day... oh the luck!

spanakopita to accompany our lamb

Oh, what fun we had. And remember this movie, well after being around many-a-greek, I know that it is funny because it is so true :)

Pesto

Ahh how I love pesto! We put it all sorts of goodies. And while I love it in the heat of summer, made fresh from my garden, I really grow basil upon basil plant to make pesto for the cold and dreary days of winter. Throughout the summer months I go out and cut my basil way down (maybe only two- four leaves left!) and then hurry inside to blend away!

A couple of years ago I heard about cutting your basil way down each month and the source, which of course I have not a clue where I once got this information, but anyhow, the source informed me that if I were to cut my basil way down I would be rewarded all summer with bountiful amounts of basil, and it is true! By the end of summer my plants are usually quite tall and very full... all the better for pesto.

Once my pesto is all made up I freeze it in little pint (I think they are pint, maybe 1/2 pint) freezer containers. These little ball containers hold the perfect amount of pesto for a pound of pasta, two pizzas or plenty of pesto and goat cheese toasts (a famous hors d'oeuvres often served at the Sacoolas homestead).

My pesto recipe is adapted from Susan Branch's recipe found in her Heart of the Home book (I love all her books!)

Pesto

2 c. fresh basil

3. T. toasted pine nuts

2 cloves garlic

1/2 t. salt

dash of pepper

3/4 c. Parmesan

2/3 c evoo

2 T butter

Saute/toast pine nuts in butter. Place everything in food processor and blend until well mixed.

*I always make at least a double batch... while all the ingredients are out it is just easier that way!*

Sheep, goats and rabbits... oh my!

Saturday found me at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival with my in-laws. We had no clue what to expect, but oh were we wonderfully surprised by what we found! I was thinking we might find a little old lady selling her hand knit socks and a couple of 4-H kids with their goats... but oh it was so much more! There were multiple buildings filled with all sorts of goodies!

I almost brought this angora rabbit home... I don't even think the Mr. would have minded!

The Spinning Circle

The funniest ram I have ever seen!

Our lunch- Lamb Ribs from SuDan Farms

Beautiful wool blankets

Fiber all ready to be turned into something wonderful!

As many of you know, I will live on my very own farm some day and be a modern day "Laura Ingalls". But until then, I have things like the Flock and Fiber Festival to keep my dreaming going...

I am still here...

The Cozy Little Cottage has been a very busy place this September. School has started and Oregon's summer harvest has just recently arrived (very late!). Much food has been put up for the winter around here as we have been busily canning, freezing and drying for weeks and weeks. I hope to show you many of my foodie projects in the days to come.

As of now our pantry and freezer are full of dilly beans, pickles, berries, jams, tomato soup, roasted tomato sauce, pesto, applesauce, fruit leather, dried apples and so much more!

Happy Anniversary!

The traditional anniversary gift for your second year of marriage is "cotton". So early last week I ventured off to West Linn to shop at Hollyhill Quilt Shoppe to load up on some cotton in David's favorite colors... orange and black of course!

I set to work on a new quilt for us to take on all our adventures down to Corvallis... a little something to keep us warm during those chilly night games!

I love the way it turned out! I didn't wash any of the fabric or the batting in hopes that it would all shrink together, giving it an antiqued look... what do you think?

I also embroidered our anniversary date on a little patch on the back... I think he will like that little detail :)

To accompany the quilt I found David a new Oregon State t-shirt to wear to all the games this season and I tied a new OSU bumper sticker to the top of the package as well!

In addition, I made him this little card (I like to make cards... more personal!) On the inside it says, "I think you are the 'Bee's Knees'!"

The traditional gift for your first anniversary is "paper"... At the Sacoolas household we think very much alike... David and I both bought each other football tickets to Oregon State games, luckily different games! This year I think I am in the clear... I just can't imagine that David made me a quilt!

In addition to our little gifts, we will also be heading to the Gorge for a Van Morrison concert. I have always loved Van the Man and can't wait to see him in concert! We will camp that night at the gorge and then head to Mt. Rainier for a week of fun with David's family... Quilting, Concerts and Camping- Oh my!