six months earlier...

october

*An October wedding prompted a pilgrimage to foodie mecca, northern California. The entire state, engorged with an excessive harvest, burst at its seams. The wedding was an event worthy of its own post. We took advantage of the westcoast crops (rice, fresh dates, nuts, Rancho Gordo beans, etc.).

* Back in New York, Kiwiberries were a delicious end of season surprise.

november
* Outside of my apartment at 10:45 pm on a brisk November night, Jay Dines of Dines Farms pulled a 10 lbs. turkey from the back of his truck and handed it over. We managed to prepare an entirely local thanksgiving, including two pies, in our pajamas. Perfect.


december
* We celebrated 8 nights of hannukah and decorated an Organic Pagan Tree from Keith’s Farm.
* Under the tree: the iRoast personal coffee roaster, a home cheese-making kit, and 4 full seasons of River Cottage with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on DVD, and a tent for 2.

january
* Country Living. We moved our operation upstate to welcome the New Year fireside. Plenty of snow fall this year. We had a deliciously local dinner with friends at Stone and Thistle Farms and took time to ponder real estate opportunities.

february
* Made the move. After years of studio living, I’ve moved to a perfect one-bedroom. To my good fortune, the new place comes with a built-in boyfriend.

march
* The Locabar. It is not much, but it is local. We have bought our fair share of local wines, but cold March nights called for something stiffer. Inspired by our evening at Stone and Thistle Farms, I sought out a range of local liquors for Jordan’s birthday gift this year.

spring cleaning

It was clear that as the academic year picked up, my commitment to keeping a blog withered. A wider gap between posts turned to a couple of drafts wanting attention, to some photos on the desktop, to some photos in the camera, until finally to a mere passing thought… I should write about this or that.

Fortunately, in the spirit of spring, I’ve concocted a two-part remedy.

Part One: Spring Cleaning

A quick list-like post to breath life into all those mid-winter ideas lying dormant.

Part Two: Time to Grow

Behind the scenes, I’ll admit I have less than perfect time management skills. Luckily, spring feels like the right time to bust into self-improvement mode. Ironically, developing better time management will require time, so baby steps are to be expected.

last tomatoes of the season...

I was beginning to worry that Simon and Minty Marchmont, fictional food stars of the BBC's Posh Nosh, were the only ones who understood excessive food related expenditures. Then Lynne Rosetto Kasper of NPR's Splendid Table admitted that she had recently spent $26 on a can of tomatoes.

These were not just any tomatoes. They were San Marzano tomatoes, a thin-skinned pear shaped variety grown in the volcanic soil of Mount Vesuvius.

Food researcher Nancy Harmon Jenkins explains that the delicate tomato did not travel well, so a thicker skinned cousin was bred for exportation. The true San Marzano tomato had all but disappeared, when a savvy Italian farmer scoured a seed bank for the real deal. He brought the original back to the region, and now you have the choice between the impostors at your market and the $11 can (plus $15 shipping) from Gustiamo. Kasper chose the latter, which makes my own San Marzano tale slightly more bearable.

As a budding locavore, I would not be spending the $26 dollars to import the perfect tomato from Italy. However, a local version of the San Marzano tomato can be found at the greenmarket.

Last Saturday, as I stroked the taut red skin of one such fruit, the farmer uttered the words I most feared: "Last of the season."

I was already anxious about the end of harvest. It is easy to say goodbye to strawberries when they are followed with cherries, or to cherries once peaches arrive, but we are approaching frightening and unknown territory. Winter. If this was the last of the season, it could mean only one thing: canning.

4lbs Local San Marzano tomatoes - $16.00
1 Ball Blue Book of Preserving - $7.95
6 Ball pint size canning jars - $9.00 (1.50 each)
1 canning jar lifter - $3.95
1 wide mouth canning funnel - $7.99
1 candy thermometer - $19.95
1 plastic food mill - $14.95
additional ingredients - $5.00

Maybe I hadn't thought this one through. This is a recipe for $85 tomato sauce.

The plan was this: roast the tomatoes with olive oil, onions, garlic and herbs, then pass them through a food mill. Finish on the stove with a splash of white wine. It seemed simple, and I was excited to sprinkle herbs over trays of split tomatoes.

I over-roasted the tomatoes. I may have used the wrong variety for the cooking method. I was able to salvage about half. The other half passed reluctantly through the food mill, and yielded a whopping 2 ounces of sauce.

2 ounces of sauce that I will savor. It is, after all, the last of the season.

Now, there must be something around here worth canning!