day 3: "i am thankful for.......RECIPES!

...because without them, i would be LOST in the kitchen. some people, aka. my husband, can just whip up a fancy dinner w/o a recipe. he tells me "just need to taste it" ...well NOT ME! i always follow recipes to the teeeee. here is a recipe i have recently used for homemade freezer spaghetti sauce from allrecipes.com (LOVE this site):

Ingredients

4 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
16 cups chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried basil
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons salt
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

Directions

In a slow cooker saute together the onion, garlic, green pepper, and vegetable oil. Cook until onion is transparent.
Add the chopped tomatoes, oregano, basil, parsley, sugar, salt, and ground black pepper. Stir in can of tomato paste. Cook for 2 to 3 hours on low heat. Stir frequently.
Let sauce cool. Pour sauce into quart size freezer containers. Store in freezer.

and a picture (yes, i took a picture of my sauce because it was quite a triumph for me to create such a masterpiece in my kitchen (i am not a very good cook ;0). i even sent a picture to my sister that day! SHE is the master cook in the family)

in order to make homemade sauce, i first had to learn how to peel tomatoes...here is what you do:

-boil water (enough to cover the largest tomato)
-place tomatoes in boiling water
-let sit for at least 30 seconds (or until you see the skin starting to peel)
-with one of those big spoons that have holes (forget what they are called:)) take the peeling tomatoes out of the boiling water, and immediately place into a bowl full of ICE water.
-let sit for again, 30 sec. then, just take out and peel!

for me, making homemade sauce was quite the ordeal...but, i did it! thanks to the recipes i found, i could finally help to slowly diminish my garden tomato supply. here is a picture of the tomatoes i have in my fridge today (and there are more where they came from)! i guess i need to make more sauce (i have never canned, and don't know if i ever will ;))

....so, what are you especially thankful for today?! :)