Rebecca Homecca

The farmer loaded us up with tomatoes this week (way more than even I can eat) so I made tomato sauce.
It’s easy and difficult at the same time.
First you have to peel the tomatoes (boil a few minutes, cool, peel)
Then you are supposed to put them in a food mill. But I don’t have one, so there comes the difficult part.
First I tried shoving it through the strainer, which I had done before, but these tomatoes were not very cooperative. So the last batch just went through the food processor, seeds and all.
A girl’s only got so much patience with unruly vegetables (or fruit if you are being scientific).
Sweat out an onion or two and some garlic in a little olive oil. Add the tomatoes, some salt and a little sugar (trust me on the sugar).
Bring to a boil then lower the heat to simmer until it is a thick as you like. This takes a long time.
We are talking hours. So that meant it was very humid all afternoon. On account of all the boiling and simmering and what not.
Click on over to flickr to see the finished product (because I am too tired to upload pictures).

Friday night we went to the fair with some friends and their little girl. We petted some barn animals, they rode some rides, cotton candy was eaten and then it was time to go.
I have some more pics over at flickr including the worlds ugliest bunny and a baby llama, so be sure to check that out!
G had a grand time on all the rides and didn’t want to get off the elephants she was having such a good time. We had just as good of a time watching her!
As we walked back to the car we looked back and commented that we thought the lights invoked something perfectly American.

After getting to go to the Tigers game on Tuesday, I couldn’t believe my luck when my office gave me race tickets and pit passes! Hubs dressed up in his best redneck gear so as to best fit in. However, as it turns out Miller Lite was actually a little high brow. There was something called Genny Lite they were selling for a buck. We did not try any, but imagined it was probably really awesome (eek).

I took a ton of pictures, so I posted a few up over at flickr.

Being back in the pits was kind of weird. Everybody was running around and working to get ready for the race and we kind of felt in the way. But we had our gold VIP bracelets so we were allowed to go where ever we wanted.

Then they had a meet and greet time where you could talk to the drivers and get autographs.

We watched one race from the infield, which was cool, but you can’t see the whole track. So for the main event we went back out with the common folk.

Oh and don’t forget the snacks! They were super cheap and really good. We loaded up on hot dogs, pop, a big pretzel and a lemon chill.

I told my boss what a good time we had and she said she would keep us in mind if they got passes again. Yeah!

Flickr is giving me fits, so here’s another pic from the Tigers game.

Last year we had a family of Cooper’s Hawks build a nest in our woods. We really enjoyed watching them and learning about them.

I didn’t know they came back to the nest, but they must because they are here again.

We had been hearing the familiar calls of the babies for the past week or so. Then Saturday night, they started to venture out. We could hear them making quite a ruckus as they explored the woods and tested their wings. I kept seeing them flying across the yard and even the cat’s ears would perk up at the loud sounds from outside.

We got a ton of veggies from the farmer this week (as you can see). There are more pictures over on flickr.
I have no idea why it takes me so long to process the veggies each week. I am certain it has nothing to do with the fact that I must photograph them all first…
I have 4 more bags of beans in the freezer. This is going to be bean filled winter! I’ve frozen beans before and they are so much better than the frozen ones at the store. And besides I hate that the ones at the store are cut. I like whole beans.
I’ve got plans for cabbage (which feels like it weighs about 10 lbs by the way) and I can’t wait to eat my little tomato (the first of the season!)
I do not have plans to shred any more zucchini, however.
As for the kohlrabi…tbd…a new adventure in veggies!

For our wetlands class today we visited a bog. This entails wading through waste deep water out onto the bog mat.
The bog mat is made of sorghum moss (peat) and is out in the middle of the water. You can walk on it and it is kind of like walking on a water bed. Very strange.
What makes a bog different from a marsh or swamp is that it is filled only with rain water. Marshes and swamps have either water flowing to them from lakes, streams, rivers, or springs.
There is another wetland that is like a bog called a fen, it is fed from springs.
You normally aren’t allowed to walk out on bog mats, but since this one is on private property, the owner allows classes to visit.
It was pretty cool. There are not a lot of nutrients in bog water, so there are 3 different plants out there that eat bugs. We also saw 2 different kinds of orchids that grow out there in addition to water lilies. Blueberries and Michigan Holly grow in the areas closer to land.
You have to be careful of poison sumac which also like to grow in wetlands. The other thing to be careful of is false bottoms (holes)- some can be quite deep.
Unless of course you are the instructor and a few brave students who jumped in on purpose. Not me!
Very little bacteria grows there because it is more acidic than a tomato. And decomposition is very slow. So it doesn’t smell and it is actually quite clean (other than the muck).
I posted some more pics on flickr of the flowers and the swimming.

Here is the sweet baby out at the farm. He was milk drunk from visiting his adoptive mamas (he has two moms) and had to take a snooze. I love his stripes and little Yoda ears.

It is veggie day. I love how wonderful everything looks as much as how it tastes!
We got more lettuce, beet greens, and these fabulous peas. We also got several actual beets this time.
I am generally not a fan of beets, but I’ve only ever had those canned things that look like they have been cooked in some sort of radiation.
So it will be an adventure to try some fresh ones.

I never thought I would get to see this! I came out this morning and there was a bloom on the daylilies by the door!
I know what you are thinking, daylilies are the easiest thing on earth to grow and get to bloom, so what’s the deal?
Well, normally the deer eat all the blooms before they open. Like little snacks. They don’t eat the green part, just all the buds.
But not today! They let one slip through!
So I took a picture. This way I can remember what color they are. And think about how beautiful they would be if allowed to do their thing…