Tons Of Tomatoes

We have been getting so many tomatoes, we can't really even keep up with them anymore.  One Saturday a few weeks ago, we washed...

...and cored...

...50 pounds of tomatoes!

Some onions from our garden got chopped up and put into...

...the big lobster pot, as well as the tomatoes, and some seasoning.  Actually we had to do this step twice, as all of the tomatoes couldn't fit in the pot at one time.

The tomato mixture was simmered for 20-30 minutes.

Then we pureed it all in the food processor and strained it.

All of the strained mixture fit into the lobster pot.  Barely.

Then we cooked it down for hours.  When the tomato sauce was thick enough, we ladled it into jars and canned it.  We ended up with 12 quarts of seasoned tomato sauce. 

That will taste delicious in the winter!

I've also got 32 quarts of tomatoes in the freezer and we've canned 16 pints of salsa.  And my kitchen is still overflowing with tomatoes!

Happy Birthday, Anne and Dominic!

Seven years ago today, Dominic and Anne were born!

It is hard to believe they were once this small.

Best friends!

Crazy For Corn

We have harvested over 3/4 of the corn from the garden, which has been hundreds and hundreds of ears of corn.  These pictures were from the first picking right before the fourth of July. 

The kids got to work shucking the corn. 

The corn shucking station, set in the shade.

Anne and Joseph.

Catherine and Dominic.

Once Anthony started shucking corn and discovered that he liked it, you could not have bribed him away until it was done.  He especially liked finding worms at the end of the ears and if they fell out, he would pick them up to check them out.  He was also a corn-eating machine.  One night at dinner he ate four ears of corn!

Catherine and Anne have scrubbed a lot of corn.

Some of our corn that got blanched, cut off the cobs, and put in the freezer.

We had one batch of corn that wasn't as sweet, so Dan grilled the ears you see in the pan.

Then we put on a creamy, flavorful sauce.  Yum!

A Fun Fourth

This post is really late, but hey, at least it is still July!

The four big kids were ready for some fireworks!

Posing in front of the fireworks stash on the tailgate.

Smoke bombs!

Happy kids.

They were waiting for...

...parachutes!

They got all the chairs set up just so.  Anthony was trying to stomp on a snapper.

Ready for some more fireworks, Daddy!

Dominic takes a lot of funny pictures.

Here's another funny face.

The oldest and the youngest - so sweet!

Green Beans Galore!

I left out this picture from the June garden post.  I've picked a lot of green beans this summer.  We've been able to put 25 quarts in the freezer!

The Great Bike Passdown

Dominic got a new bike...

...so that Joseph could have Dominic's bike...

...so that Anthony could have Joseph's bike. 

Every boy is happy!

S'mores

What a fun summertime activity!

Our turkey fryer burner has certainly gotten a lot of use!

Anthony watched everyone roast their giant marshmallows.

Then came the messy...

...and gooey...

...and tasty part!

Anthony thought the chocolate was the best part.

Settling in to eat their s'mores.  Yummy!

The Combine

One evening in early June, we got to watch the combine cutting wheat in the field across the road.  They were cutting right next to the road at one point, so the kids got to see the combine very close up. 



Every year there is something different growing in the field across the road - wheat, corn, soy beans.  It is interesting for the kids to watch the different crops grow and be harvested.

Anthony liked to see the combine working away so close to our house.

The combine kicked up a lot of dust...

...so the kids came running back!  Doesn't it look just humongous?

Catherine gave Anthony a piggy-back ride to get another look.

They all ran back after the combine moved down the field.

June Garden

We've been so busy with produce from the garden that I haven't taken time to blog much, so I am behind.  Here are some pictures from the garden in June. 

Two brothers in front of some of the corn.

A view of the garden in early June.

Pasta salad I made using the produce at the time.

Peaches from our peach tree.

The peach pie I made using our peaches.  The TT stands for Totus Tuus.  I made the pie on the last day of Totus Tuus and the kids thought that was great!

These were some of our first cucumbers.  We've had many since then (Dan picked a bushel of them yesterday!).  Some we've used to make 26 quarts of dill pickles. 

Peppers and tomatoes. 

Anne shows off some carrots.

Catherine with an armful.  This was later in June and you can see how tall the corn was getting back there.

Anthony loves to help in the garden just like the big kids.

A few of the carrots we've harvested this year.

Dominic checking the green beans.