So around 2:00 yesterday afternoon the tomato sauce I was making (see yesterday’s entry for details if you’re all “Whuh?!”) finally reached the stage of thickening I like in a tomato sauce, and so I set it aside to cool and when Fred got home I made him taste it and he tasted it and there was this lonnnnnng pause and he said “It’s alright.” and then he toddled off to do something and I fumed and was all “FUCKING BASTARD AFTER ALL THAT WORK I DID HE IS SO UNAPPRECIATIVE I HATE HIM!” and then I tasted the tomato sauce.
And.
It.
SUCKED.
APPARENTLY if you put herbs and spices in tomato sauce and simmer it all for 45,000 hours, the herbs turn bitter.
WHO THE FUCK KNEW?
Not me.
I started to bag the sauce up to freeze anyway because GODDAMN THAT IS A LOT OF WORK, but then I stopped because I am a realist (sometimes) and I knew that if I put the bitter-ass sauce in the freezer then it would just sit in the freezer, never eaten, and eventually I’d just thaw it out and feed it to the pigs or the chickens or whatever.
So I cut out the middleman (ie, the freezer) and fed it to those who appreciate it despite its bitterness.
DAMN IT.
What have I learned? Two things.
1. Make a half batch next time so it all fits in the pot at the same damn time.
2. Wait until it’s gotten within a few hours of reaching the preferred consistency and THEN add the freakin’ herbs.
I’ll be glad when I’m on the other side of this learning curve. Or… is that how learning curves work? I don’t know. You know what I mean.
UGH.
The habaneros are growing like motherfuckers. Fred’s got like 150 habaneros put away in the freezer for whenever he feels like making habanero jam. And they KEEP ON COMING.
Last night I took about ten dried cayenne peppers and tossed them in the blender and I ground the hell out of those things.
(Despite the fact that there was no liquid in the blender, you better believe I kept my hand firmly atop that damn blender cover while it was going.)
And now we have cayenne powder, made from our own cayennes!
Kinda looks like red pepper flakes, doesn’t it? According to Fred it has “a zing” to it. To the normal person that means “This will burn your tongue off.”
Not that we use all that much cayenne powder. But, uh, I guess we better start.
Currently drying.
Yesterday, upon wiping up all the tomato sauce that had splattered all over the kitchen, I accidentally destroyed the web the tiny spider who lives above the kitchen sink had been tending so diligently. I felt horrible about it because I’m a dork, but she’s rebuilt and though she’s keeping a wary eye on me this morning, she seems to have forgiven me.
That, or she’s going to wait ’til she’s big enough to chew my face off, and then she’ll take her revenge.
Someone Fred works with had some extra corn on the cob that wasn’t fit for humans (it’d been left on the cob too long), so she brought it to work for Fred to give the chickens.
The chickens highly approved.
“Hellew.”
Previously
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: she’s got the skank lines rolling off her, doesn’t she?
2004: Fred is just amazed that one portly cat can have so many health issues.
2003: ::Sproing!:: he went, leaping at least a foot in the air, and I watched, impressed that he’d contained that much energy in his dry and dead-looking little body.
2002: “TUBBY GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!” I ordered, and grudgingly he did.
2001: No entry.
2000: Being completely, one-hundred percent useless in the slightest emergency, I slapped my hands to my cheeks and let out a horrified scream.
Awww. I can never remember which one of the lighter cats is which in your house, but whoever it is, he’s very cute. 🙂
Yep, I’m definitely going to try to make a half batch of that sauce next year. Thanks for testing it out! I’d also like to try making my own mozzarella but maybe you can give it a go first?!
I thought I was the only one who saved spider webs 🙂 I had a very interesting spider in my bathtub the other day. It sat there and groomed itself while I bathed…..I thought I would put it outside after I was done because it had entertained me…..but alas, it jumped on me and instinct took over….and I washed his bits down the drain.
I have 25 Welsummer chicks coming in this week…..I think I’ve lost my mind.
Aw man. All that work on the sauce!! 🙁
Did you use fresh herbs or dried? I can’t remember. Fresh herbs go in towards the end of cooking, say the last ten minutes or so. I always add a teaspoon or so of sugar to my sauce (regular saucepan-sized batch) too to help cut the acidity a bit.
Has Spanky lost weight? I know he’s not big like Spot was, but he’s looking rather svelte in this photo… and soft man, soft enough I wouldn’t let anyone named Lennie play with him!
Something to definitely write on the recipe card – do not put herbs into pot until last minute. Good thing that Fred planted 5,000 tomato plants so you will have enough mators for another batch of sauce. On the positive side, you have an awesome strainer so it’s not as horrible work prepping to tomatoes. 🙂
That picture of the three chicks trying to get some corn on the cob is the cutest ever! I’d die of all the cuteness if I lived your life! :o)
Years ago a large spider (garden, I think) was vigorously building a web very close to my front door. Build, build, build. I’d admire it upon leaving in the morning, dew dripping from it in the sunlight, so pretty. I’m sure hat spider was thinking, “Oh man, she’s huge. If I can catch her, I’ll eat for a lifetime!”
Even more years ago, I spent what seemed like an eternity on some tomato sauce for dinner with Robert. It was to be the first time I cooked for him. I watched him expectantly as he took his first bite, and he bravely gasped a lame approval. I took one taste and was horrified. He tried to keep eating, but I told him I was pretty sure he would *die* if he ate any more. Amazingly, he agreed to another homicidal, I mean, *home* cooked meal, which went much better.
Your own cayenne powder, that’s cool as shit!
Robyn, I remember awhile back when you named the kitties from the show Firefly that you thought you would watch it since so many of your readers told you how good it was. Well I had never even heard of it cause I’m not much into Sci-Fi but when I found it on HuLu I thought I would give it a try…. Well they were right, it is the BEST SHOW EVER, such a shame it was cancelled. If you haven’t watched it give it a try, trust me it will grow on you very quickly and it will get in your head and stay there. I never liked Nathan Fillion at all, hated him in Waitress, didn’t even realize he was on Desperate Housewives, but the character he playes in Firefly is so perfect for him, you really just have to see it to appreciate it, then go watch the movie Serenity. I promise you, you will love it!
Awwww man… what a drag! Learning curves suck. But making your own cayenne powder is very cool! (Err… hot!)
I remember watching my husband from around the corner or the kitchen taking his first bite of my “eggplant parmesan” when we were newlyweds. I will never forget the look on his face. I was devastated. I worked so hard on it. 30 years later….I say “you’ll eat it and you’ll like it!” (just kidding)
What happened with the potential adopter???
What Paula said.
Also, if I may, thank you SO SO MUCH for having the link to the incredible Crystal at Boobs, Injuries & Dr Pepper on your “blogs i read” list. I’ve spent the last three days alternately laughing my ass off and crying my eyes out, and I’m now an assless, blind, happy new fan of hers. You have such good taste. But you already knew that.
Robyn,
I have an AMAZING sauce recipe for you. I’ll email it to you! 🙂
So I took the double jalepeno jam to the bar my sister owns (Three Sheets Bar & Grill in Michigan City, IN) and my fellow regulars and I ate it up. We loved it. Thank you so much!!!!!
That is a very sultry photo of Spanky.