Wow - that's a week gone by in the blink of an eye

I have posted nothing this week but can't believe that this week has already gone by.  In fact the shocking thing is that I need to do a photo for this week's image - and it is nine o'clock in the evening already.

So what have I been up to all week - gardening, gardening and gardening, then some more gardening.

We had a lovely dinner party on Friday - with more hand made pasta - I feel a bit of an obsession coming on.

We were up at the crack of dawn to head off for a car boot sale today, then had a lovely day in the sun messing about with the new timber for the terrace, then a surprise visit and drinks and nibbles in the garden with friends this afternoon - and in between I have been chasing down my pantry mouse - who has developed a real taste for noodles.

Passata Monday

After the Sunday of plasterboard hell, and then the Sunday of plasterboard clearing up that was even more hellish, I was determined to do something nice today.

So I went to the greenhouse and picked all the red tomatoes and made jars and jars of passata for the winter.

I call it passata because it is much runnier than a sauce.

Very simple to do, just throw your tomaotes in a pan, add whatever flavours you like and a splash of water, then bring to the boil and simmer for about 30 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and cooked through but still retain some of their shape - I especially like to keep the cherry toms looking like cherry toms in the jar and on the plate afterwards.  I don't skin mine as I like the added texture and I don't boil them to a mush and make a thick paste - ditto, I prefer a bit of bite to my sauces.

I don't think that the 10 jars I made today is anywhere near enough to see us through to the next harvest but it is a start!

I am making three different flavours this time:

A red tomato and fresh oregano passata

A plum tomato and roasted garlic passata

A cherry tomato and fresh basil passata


The whole house smells lovely, full of garlic-y, basil-y and tomato-y flavours.