Our supply of tomatoes continues to occupy our kitchen window sill. A friend at work gave me this recipe after we discussing all the different things we do with tomatoes. It’s a nice easy way to use up the smaller ones that seem to be all that is left now…and is also very tasty.
our window sill tomatoeslots of nice spicesthe tomatoes as they started to cook. such a nice color.about an hour and a half later
Tomato Jam
Meg Guncik – who got from New York Times
1 ½ lb good ripe tomatoes (Roma are best), cored and coarsely chopped.
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1 Tbsp fresh grated or minced ginger
1 tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. salt
1 jalapeno or other pepper(s), stemmed, seeded and minced (or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste)
1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring often.
2. Reduce heat to simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, @ 1 hour, 15 minutes.
3. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use. Will keep at least a week.
Meg’s notes:
My Roma tomatoes were so small, I didn’t bother to core them, but I did coarsely chop them.
I usually double this recipe and end up with 2-3 small/medium sized jars.
If you want, after cooking for the hour and 15 min, you can run the mixture through a strainer to get rid of any skins and/or cores. I did not do that – I used an immersion blender and made it smooth that way.
A few times, I needed to cook it longer to continue to reduce it to the right thickness.
I think it keeps longer than a week. It’s very good on melba toast or water crackers -it’s not necessarily a breakfast-type jam.
Courtney, Jack, Grace, Sophia and I left Cleveland at 0500 on our way to Wisconsin with a stop in the upper U.P. Claire stayed home as she had to work. We drove to Munising, MI through mostly rain and falling temperatures. It has been in the 90’s and higher all summer so we were happy to be going into cooler temps. It was about a 10 1/2 hour drive with stops for breakfast and a quick lunch. We booked two rooms at the Beach Inn in Munising, Michigan and were pleasantly suprised that it was pretty nice as the details were pretty sketchy. It was right on the bay with all the rooms looking out over a nice big lawn with lots of chairs and things to do. Unfortunately, it was raining the whole time so we just sat on the porch and had some beers while the kids watched the Olympics. We went to dinner at the Brownstone Inn about 10 miles north on the main road. It was a nice place that reminded me of The Cabin in Euclid before it was remodeled after it burnt down. We had a really nice dinner and was nice to relax. We stopped at one of the beaches on the way back to the motel as it finally stopped raining to check out Lake Superior. The beaches are beautiful as well as the scenery. Crashed quickly once we got back as it had been a long day.
jack and sophie playing game on lawn of motel in the rainchecking out Lake Superior on the way home from dinnerhappy to be going on vacationour cute little motel
Friday, 8/10/12
Had a quick breakfast at the motel, checked out around 9:30 and headed to the Pictured Rock National Park for the morning.
Went to Munising Falls – nice trail up through woods and big rocks, then to Sand Point – beautiful beach overlooking city and onto Lake Superior.
Then to Miner’s Falls – about 15 minutes away – another big waterfall and then to Miner’s Castle where you can see the beautiful cliffs and ragged Lake Superior.
Went to great hot dog place in Munising – Johnny’s Dogs. Great menu and great food.
Drove to Jute lake. About three hours arriving at around 4.
Kanwitts there for last day. Went swimming and then had campfire dinner at campsite. Brats, hot dogs and hamburgers.
on the trail to munising fallsbeautiful cliffsmunising fallsbeautiful placeshipwreck on lake superior beachrugged beachour children are so strongchecking out another waterfallcastle rockhelllooooo…fries with pulled pork, ranch, barbeque sauce and cheesejack showing off his impressive hot dogrelaxing at jute lakefishing for minnowsnice bonfirevery nice place to have dinner
Saturday, 8/11/12
Hung out w Kanwits in morning, swimming, kayaking. They took off around 11:00.
We went to Boulder Beer Bar for lunch. Courtney, Jack and I had smoked chicken wings and a pizza and the girls had sandwiches. After lunch we went on the Trout Lake trail for a mile hike. Relaxed on dock on in afternoon.
boulder beer bar for lunchpioneer girlhiking on trout lakehappy to be in the woods
Sunday, 8/12/12
Went into “Musky Days” at Boulder Junction in afternoon. Mostly crappy crafty stuff. But nice people watching.
Monday, 8/13/2012
Went on hike around Escanaba for lunch. Packed a picnic and hiked in 1 1/2 mile to the lake and picnicked and swam. Great spot. Great afternoon. Hike back is another 1 mile.
Bent’s Camp for dinner
hiking in all packed uppicknickingjack and sophiacookies mmmmmmswimming…not swimmingwhat a great spot!nice shot of sophiebent’s camp – another one of our favoritespost chicken wing stuporcreepy
Tuesday, 8/14/2012
Courtney went w Maryjo to Minoqua around 10:00 to visit a friend and have lunch.
Courtney and Grace swam across the lake to the other side. Grace made it one way. Courtney made it both ways.
jumping off the docknice facenice techniquecourtney and grace on their away across the lake
Wednesday, 8/15/2012
Lunch at Granery.
Walked around Fallison lake. Beautiful trail with huge sections of red pines and old hemlocks
Scenic drive back via land o lakes. Stopped to buy a few things at the grocery store and stopped at the ice cream stand
Campfire dinner of sausage patties and chicken breasts.
fallison lakenice height
Thursday, 8/16/2012
Drizzly, much colder morning. Stayed in bed and read until pretty late.
Attempted walk around jute lake with Courtney and Craig. Prob walked around 5 to 6 miles and only one quarter around.
Went horseback riding for an hour at the stables near Boulder Junction. Nice ride through the woods. Had macaroni and cheese and take out fried chicken for dinner
stop sign in the middle of nowherehorseback riding through the woodsnice way to travel
Friday, 8/17/2012
Carrie and two of her friends arrived around midnight last night as they are going to a nearby Lake for a bachelorette party.
Courtney and I canoed around the lake at 7:30 A.M. Beautiful, bright blue skied day with lots of sunshine and cool.
Had a cookout breakfast of bacon, sausage, pancakes and eggs. Everything very good.
Hung out on dock reading, swimming relaxing. Kids went to Bent’s camp around 1:30 for wings but we stayed home as still full from breakfast.
Courtney and MaryJo went to Red Pine Camp function for dinner.
Saturday, 8/18/12
Left Jute lake around 5:00 and drove through downtown Chicago and got home in exactly 12 hours. Almost a record.
In a post apocalyptic world where 99.9% of the population has been wiped out, a man and his dog survives in rural Colarado. Told from his fever damaged brain’s viewpoint, it is frightening yet somehow hopeful. While it did take me awhile to get into it, this very unique novel is one of my favorites in a while and I didn’t want it to end.
We cruised out of Chicago with no problems on a late Sunday morning after dropping Jack off at the bus station. An easy 2 1/2 hour drive. We have never been to Saugutuck before, we were looking for somewhere to stay for a few days in south western Michigan after Chicago. We stayed at the Ship and Shore Motel – right out of the 1960s. We had a pretty small no frills room to share between the five of us, but we dealt with it especially after having such nice digs in Chicago. We walked around the town in the afternoon, lots of nice shops, places to eat, galleries and of course ice cream stores. The motel was right on the river with a balcony looking out over the pool and the river so it was nice to just hang out. The weather was hot hot hot the whole time we were there, getting close to 100 degrees in the late afternoon. We went to dinner at a bar called Wally’s that was nice and casual, went to the corner ice cream place for ice cream and fudge after and then strolled back to our motel and hung outside until it go dark…not until 10:00 or even later.
strolling along the boardwalksunday in the parkthe balcony of our room looking out on to the rivercrazy ferry that crossed the river right next to the motel. it operated by a kid cranking a chain to get from one side to the other.relaxing at dinner
Monday July 16th, 2012
After breakfast chez motel we took off for the beach. We went to Oval Beach which was just on the other side of the river from our motel, but you had to go a round about way to get there. Oval Beach is one of the best fresh water beaches according to many. Beautiful sand, large sand dunes, fresh, clear water and no buildings at all. Really quite amazing. It was great to sit and relax after such a busy wedding weekend. Courtney and I went on a long walk to the end where the river went in and then went swimming where we were the only ones. It was wonderful. We ended up getting lunch at the beach as they had a really nice concession stand with lots of different things. We stayed all morning and went up around 2:00 or so. We took a drive to Crain’s Pie’s that we read about that was about a half hour away. We each got a piece of pie and hung out for awhile. We stopped at a winery on the way back that we passed and had a tasting and bought a couple of bottles. Went back to the motel, hung out, went to dinner late at an Italian place across the street, had more ice cream of course and then hung outside in the heat until bed.
beautiful oval beachmmmmmmm cherry piepie tasting….….followed by wine tasting. not a bad way to spend an afternoon.fenn valley winery – in the middle of nowhere.girls at dinnera competitive game of dots.
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012
Off to the beach again in the morning. This time we went to Saugutuck Dunes, which was just a mile or so north. This beach was interesting in that you had to hike a half mile to get to the beach through the woods and sand dunes. It was worth the hike. While not as big as Oval beach it was still very nice. We stayed at the beach all morning again and then hung out at the pool, went shopping and relaxed. We went to the Butler for dinner which reminded me of a 1960’s version of the Cabin back here. We had a nice last vacation dinner.
saugutuck dunes beach – another amazingly nice beachlooking the other directiona beautiful mermaid washed ashoresophia enjoying her arizona at the butlerwalking back along the river after dinner
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
We headed home around 9:00 or so. We stopped at Ikea in Ann Arbor on the way home for just a quick stroll through and stocked up on our usual Ikea purchases. We had lunch there too – the first time we have ate at an Ikea after going to them for so many years. The lunch was good and cheap. The swedish meatballs were the best of course. Made it home with no probs and happy to be home after a nice time away.
The mother and father of a family with four children both die soon after each other. The children put their mother in a trunk in the basement and pour concrete over so nobody knows that both their parents are dead. Creepy book. (very creepy)
What happened to summer? It went way too quickly as it always does. I have been a bad blogger and haven’t shared much even though we have had a great action packed summer with lots of adventure and lots of good food. Here are some food photos that didn’t quite make it on here. I’ll try harder as fall starts here in beautiful Euclid, Ohio.
i tried out a recipe for bruschetta with radishes and anchovy butter. not a big hit! I liked the pictures though. I will try again next year with a little bit less anchovies.beautiful asparagus ready to roastthe swiss chard in our garden continues to grown non stop. we are happy!friday after work cocktails at club isabella.beers and brats at the cleveland restoration society with the hitis and the monroessummer bruschettaeats and drinks down at UBCI don’t remember what kind of pasta this was that I made…but it looks good??lunch on kelly’s islandwine tasting on kelly’s island…blahkdggggh. yuck.thumbs up on pasta in chicagochick fil a in chicago…i love chick fil a…this chick fil a in chicago was huge.perfect cherry pie in the middle of nowhere in michiganwine tasting in michigani’m working on a good way to grill corn…haven’t gotten there yet…but i like this picturei made a beet au gratin – roasted beets, eggs, cheese – that was delicious. it was really ugly though so i never posted it.roasted beets and fresh tomatoesdinner at market garden brewerymaybe the dish of the summer…fries, pulled pork, ranch, bbq sauce and cheese at a place in munising michiganburgers on the fire on jute late wisconsinlunch at boulder beer bar in boulder junction wisconsin. had smoked chicken wings mmmmhiked a mile in to escanaba lake in wisconsin and brought a picnic.bents camp in land o lakes wisconsinc…our favorite…creamy dark and chicken wingsbrunch at the yacht club with the monroessummer’s finest
Courtney’s brother George got married in Chicago last weekend – two months ago…(yikes…a bit behind! ) so we went on a long weekend trip.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Courtney, Claire, Grace, Sophia and I left home around 6:15 AM and had an easy drive to Chicago in six hours. We drove directly to the Hotel MileNorth where we were staying and were able to check in early which was nice. We had two mini suites that were great. A queen bed in one section, a couch and chair in another section, and then a couple steps up to a desk and the door to the hall way. Courtney and I stayed in one and all the kids were in the other (hurray). We decided to go on a boat tour on Wednesday afternoon as the weather forecast was calling for hotter weather as the weekend progressed. We have always wanted to do this but never had the chance. The boat was only a 10 minute walk and we were able to get on with no probs. It was a beautiful afternoon with bright blue skies so it was great to look at all the amazing architecture and learn lots of things that we didn’t know about. The ride lasted 90 minutes and was enjoyed by all, even the kids. We wandered back to the hotel, stopped at a few places on Michigan Ave (nice Apple Store of course) and relaxed for awhile. Courtney’s long time friend Christian Rieben (check out his web site: http://christianrieben.com/) met us at the hotel for drinks and we sat around catching up, and then we wanderered around looking for somewhere for dinner. We ended up at Giordano’s, which we’ve been to before, and had a nice dinner with lots of cheese on our pizza. We wanted to try and catch the fireworks that were going on at Navy Pier, but didn’t finish with dinner until 10:00 so didn’t quite make it.
waiting to get on boat. happy to be on vacation.going down the river with our histrionic docent. beautiful day.the new trump towermarina citymerchandise mart. largest building in USA before the petagon was built.old and newthe sears tower and neighbors.the green curvey building on wacker ( I forget what it’s called…but its a beauty)the beautiful tribune buildingenjoying some post cruise ice cream.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Courtney and I went for a walk around 8:00 or so while the girls were still sleeping. We walked up Michigan Ave to Chicago and walked to the lakefront trail along Lake Michigan. It was another beautiful day with all the Chicagoan’s out running, walking, biking and swimming on their beautiful lakefront. They even have lane markers in the lake for people to use. We walked North about a mile or so and then headed back downtown. We happened upon a cool street called Astor Street that had hundred year old beautiful brownstones and lots of beautiful gardens. It was quite amazing. We made if back to our hotel, roused up the sleepy heads and headed out for breakfast. We had breakfast at a place called Yolk a few blocks south that was really good. We ate outside and were able to enjoy a nice leisurely breakfast. After breakfast we headed down town, walked around Millenium park, walked around the loop checking out the architecture with our new found expertise, checked out the Rooker building which we have never been to, walked back through Daily Plaza and then went to the old Marshal Fields on State Street – now unfortunately known as Macy’s – blahhhh. I was the good consumer and bought a new pair or shoes and a skinny black tie for the wedding and of course we had to get a box of frango mints. We headed back to Michigan Ave where we met Dan and Emily in their luxe room at the Peninsula and then had a (really) late lunch with them at a sub place. It was nice to see them as we haven’t seen them in a long time. After lunch we went shopping a bit more and then back to our hotel for a brief siesta. Alissa arrived soon after we got back to the hotel and Carrie stopped up to say hello. We all walked to dinner at Lou Malnati’s about 1/2 mile away. Jack arrived from Cincinnati that evening and met us right at the restauraunt. It was fun to all be together at last. George seemed excited for the weekend ahead.
walking along the lake in the morningnice pot on Astoranother nice pot and interesting doorwayan early Frank Lloyd Wright buildingbeautiful flowers everywhereinteresting window box. love the caladiums.row houses on Astorold and newbreakfast al frescobreakfast at yolknice placemillenium parkcurveyyeay chicagoanother pefect dayinside the beautiful rookery buildingon Michigan Avedinner at Lou Malnati’sHi Georgejack fresh, and scruffy, off the busyeay pizza
Friday, July 13th, 2012
Jack had an interview with an Architecture firm in the morning near Navy Pier so we walked with him and then got some bakery and stuff and had breakfast out on Navy Pier. We headed back along the lake back to our hotel. The girls all had a ladies bridal luncheon followed by manicures at Neiman Marcus for the afternoon. Happy that we are not women, Jack and I headed out downtown first to a jazz record store that Jack wanted to see and then the the Art Institute. A Roy Lichtenstein exhibit was going on that was very interesting. There is a new contemporary wing that I have never been to that has recently been added and it is beautiful. Interesting architecture, bright and wide open with nice views. After spending an hour or two we went to the Taste of Chicago that was going on in Grant Park for lunch. We each tried lots of different things but our favorite was still the Chicago Style Hot Dog. Just as we were finishing a huge storm was rolling in and everyone was forced to leave…quickly as they were nervous with all the tent and lighting. It was surreal being part of thousands of people all leaving at once. We were able to duck back into the Art Institute to wait out the storm. We ended up staying another hour in the museum exploring the new contemporary wing more closely. We met the girls back at the hotel and rested a bit. The boys had a cocktail on the nice lounge at the top of our hotel and then we all got into taxis and headed to the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was at Topo Giggio, probably about 100 people. Nice place, nice bar, good food, nice speaches. Courtney’s family hasn’t been all together for a long time so it’s nice to have everyone together. After dinner the kids went back to the hotel and the adults went to the bar next door. It was packed with twenty and thirty somethings so interesting to see the hook ups. We didn’t stay late as we were tired.
canoe sculpture on the way to navy pierbreakfast on navy piergood onehuge jazz record store off michigan ave somewhereoutside art institutehellocould spend days in herehi jacktaste of chicago – lots of peoplepulled pork maybe?just before the storm rolled inwatching the storm inside the art institutestatue looking out at millenium parkoutside tribune buildingcocktails on the roofat the rehearsal dinnerlistening to the toasts
Saturday, July 14th, 2012
Wedding Day! Courtney and I got up early again and went for a walk. We walked toward the river, walked around the loop and then headed back. We picked up breakfast on the way back and ate in our room. Courtney, Grace and Sophia were off to get Grace and Sophie’s hair and make-up done. Claire, Jack and I walked down MI avenue, walked north on the lake and ended up at the volleyball tournament that we saw getting set up a couple of days ago. We stayed and watched for a bit, then headed back, stopped and chik fil a for lunch, more shopping and then it was time to get ready for the wedding. We walked to the Peninsula to catch a shuttle to the church…and of course it started pouring rain. It ended by the time we got to the church. The ceremony was very nice. Very hot. I thought for sure George was going to pass out. Sophie and Grace did a great job. After pix at the wedding we shuttled back to the hotel to rest for awhile and then to the reception. Everything was amazing. Cocktails on a beautiful patio. Amazing flowers. Amazing food. Awesome band…best ever. We danced all night. Fun. Fun. Fun. Thanks George and Carrie.
another perfect morning for a walkvolleyball tournament on the beachclaire and jack holding the ball upon the beachsophie getting her hair doneflash mob in front of contemporary art museum doing bollywood danceall dressed up and ready to gopretty girls with pink shoeskids after the weddingthe girls bouquetschilling before the receptionon michigan ave on the way to the peninsulaall dressed upsophia and williamkids with their uncle georgecourtney with her little brothernice spotthe flowers were amazing. bottom lit orchids submerged in water. crazyaunt patty, grace and sophiathe food was amazingthe dancing beginsbest band evercarrie cutting the rugmore amazing flowersthe dessert tablegetting downtime to go already?
Sunday, July 15th, 2012
Everyone was beat the next morning. We walked to the corner bakery for breakfast, got Jack on a cab to get to the bus station as he had to go back to Cinci on the mega bus, said goodbye to everyone and then took off to Michigan for a few days….
Point of view goes back and forth between a husband and wife whose marriage has gone completely wrong and the wife has gone missing. A good fun read with twists and turns everywhere.
Harold Fry, a recently retired office worker in southern England, receives a letter from a past friend informing him that she is dying of cancer. Harold writes a letter back to her. On the way to the post office to deliver the letter, he decides to walk to visit her instead…500 miles away…a journey that takes months.
14 year old Jewish boy in late 1930’s Germany learns to box as his world caves in. Max Schmeling becomes his coach and ultimate savior.
Point of view goes back and forth between a husband and wife whose marriage has gone completely wrong and the wife has gone missing. A good fun read with twists and turns everywhere.
Harold Fry, a recently retired office worker in southern England, receives a letter from a past friend informing him that she is dying of cancer. Harold writes a letter back to her. On the way to the post office to deliver the letter, he decides to walk to visit her instead…500 miles away…a journey that takes months.
Eat On Edgecliff 