Late summer, and tomatoes

Now that the roads are dry again, time to do a bit of postponed shopping.  Vital yogurt, scotch tape for paper pattern, and other such urgent needs. 

And, on the way home, braving the heat/ humidity package, a stop at the farm for tomatoes and peaches.

I deliberately didn't get them from Misfits, partly because I like to include local farmers in my budget, partly because there's no peach better than one picked fully ripe this morning a mile away, and in my lunch today.

The last picture explains the yogurt stop. Pinch of baharat on the peach, sprinkle of pure cane sugar on the plain yogurt. 

And Roma plum tomatoes, big this year, needed for a rare extravaganza of tomato lemon jam. It's wonderful, everyone who tastes it wants more, after being amazed at the ingredients. 

However, it's pretty labor intensive.

The tomatoes went through several chapters of my audio book, what with peeling, via boiling water, quartering, deseeding, dicing, boiling. 

The bowl of a dozen large tomatoes, became one bowl of dice for the jam, foreground, and one bowl of skins and seeds and innards for future soup use, background. Nothing at all wasted.

I had prepped and frozen the lemon ages ago, zested it and  saved the zest for other use.

This recipe uses pectin which I don't usually use, but happened to have some.

And my guesswork was spot on. I got exactly three cups of dice, just by pretty much guessing the need at the farm stand. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket quick.

And here's the lovely result

If I like it, neighbors will get a share. It's great for breakfast, on toast. Or over ice cream. Or, nearer home, over plain yogurt. Or anything really. I expect it would be a good condiment with meat, but that's only a guess.

Meanwhile back at the leftovers in the freezer, the extra rice from the chicken dish, the rest of the canned diced tomatoes, and now a container of tomato innards. 

This looks like a soup is suggesting itself. Also as if it's high time I defrosted the freezer.

I used to have a massive chest freezer back in the day when I also had a massive vegetable garden, and a young son. In July I'd defrost, toss out of the back door, onto the grass, big chunks of ice, and young Handsome Son and the boy next door played summer snowball fights. Loads of fun, just chucking the ice about till it melted.

I don't think he would take me up on that offer now, a little more mature, perhaps. I'm not sure I am though.