Alex, a Strawberry Field, and Freezer Jam

Saturday morning was bright, sunny, and warm.  A perfect day to pick strawberries!  We invited our grand-nephew Alex, and his parents, to come along.

Homemade Kimchi

I've been trying to add a little heat to my diet.  A few sprinkles of dried red pepper flakes here, a spoonful of sriracha or sambal there, and then top it off with kimchi.  Crunchy, tangy, and spicy, kimchi was a much loved condiment in my childhood home.  Unfortunately, it was a bit too spicy for my tastes so I would have to rinse off most of the fiery sauce before I could eat it.  Of course that was before you could find mild and medium varieties at the grocery store.

I found a recipe for quick kimchi in a new cookbook, and decided to give it a try.  I was attracted to the word "quick", and liked that I could control the level of heat but I did not like the results.  The kimchi tasted sour, and too much of rice wine vinegar.  There was no umami, no depth of flavor.  I should have know that any "quick" recipe for a dish that's traditionally fermented should be avoided.

Happy Freezer Stock-up Day!

Today was mostly cool and cloudy. Perfect day to stock up the freezer with some soups and sauces. I spent most of the morning chopping veggies, and stirring pots of lentil soup, pea soup, and spaghetti sauce. I use Barefoot Contessa's recipes for the soups. The spaghetti sauce recipe comes from my dad's memories of spaghetti he ate as a kid. He grew up in a predominately Italian neighborhood (well Sicilian to be exact) and he loved his spaghetti sauce dark and thick. I've posted the recipe if you're interested.

Bill's Spaghetti Sauce:
1 large yellow onion finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp crushed dried rosemary
1 bay leaf
2 15 ounce cans tomato sauce, plus two cans of water
2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes, plus two cans of water
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
1/4 cup (approximately) red wine vinegar. (Honestly I just pour and taste until I think there's enough.)

Add olive oil to pot until bottom is just covered.
Saute onions until smushy soft (almost a paste).
Add garlic and dried herbs and cook for about two minutes (add a little water if necessary to keep from scorching).
Add canned tomato products and water.
Add bay leaf
Stir in red wine vinegar.
Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer with lid ajar stirring occasionally until sauce is reduced by half (approximately 3-4 hours).

Tomorrow is clean the stove top day!