Taste and See

Thursday is our non-daycare day, so I generally spend that day centered around home rather than centered around the office.  It's a wonderful chance for me to reorient myself midweek and to sneak a bit of housework in among the schoolwork that generally occupies my other days.

Since it's August, and since a colleague dropped off nearly fifteen pounds of tomatoes in my office on Tuesday, I devoted part of yesterday to preserving.  Nothing too fancy--just drying tomatoes and peeling green chiles that Jonathan had roasted.  Both tomatoes and chiles will be frozen to give us a taste of August all year long.

As I was peeling, Jonathan called from the other room to ask if I was singing.  I hadn't really registered it, but yes, I was humming a tune I've been singing with Jo at bedtime off and on for the last few weeks:

(to the tune of Holy Manna--with the lyrics below)

All who hunger gather gladly;
holy manna is our bread.
Come from wilderness and wandering;
here in truth we will be fed.
Ye that yearn for days of fullness,
all around us is our food.
Taste and see the grace eternal;
taste and see that God is good.

Oven-dried Tomatoes
I didn't bother peeling the tomatoes (I'll let you know if I'm sorry about that later).  Quarter washed plum tomatoes and place on parchment paper in a 200-degree oven.  Mine took about 11-12 hours to dry to a pliable but not tacky state.  I've packed them in freezer bags with as little air as possible (I don't yet own a vacuum sealer, but that may change).  I managed to deal with almost all of the tomatoes in only a few days.)

Freezing Green Chiles

We're lucky enough to have a grocery store that orders and stocks Hatch New Mexican Green Chile--a food that signifies God's blessing, as far as I'm concerned.  To preserve (we usually do a whole case; this year, I'm contemplating more depending on when they may put it on sale again), roast the whole chiles on a grill or under the broiler until the skin blackens and/or bubbles up on all sides.  Cool and sweat in a paper grocery bag with the top rolled down and then remove the stems, skin, and seeds (remembering that most of the chiles heat is in the seeds and membrane).  Pack in vacuumed freezer bags in whatever portion is suitable for you. 

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In the pounds of produce that come in the door in these days (and even in the drying cornfields around us that are devastating our local economy), taste and see the grace eternal.  Taste and see that God is good.

Next up, the peaches.