I Did It!!

I made it!  I can't believe it but I rode the bike ride, the entire 15miles.  I was so excited. Actually we ended up finishing with the "faster" riders.  It was not a competition at all but the faster riders were encouraged to ride in the front.  We ended up being one of the first 25 to finish, and that was out of 500 riders!!  I was super excited about that....competition or not!

Me and Tammy before the ride started.

So after getting home around 2am!!  Ack!! I still was not able to sleep in so I was up and at it by 7:30.  I was ready to freeze my tomatoes.  My sister had told me the night before that I could freeze them instead of canning them so I thought I would try it this year.  You do everything the same except no processing! 

First boil the tomatoes about 3-5 minutes just until...

They start to look like this so that you can peel them easily.

Put them cold water and peel the skins off

Then cute in quarters and put into freezer bags.  There you go.  Fresh, frozen tomatoes to use this winter for Chili, Spaghetti, anything you can think of.

I had some extra ones so I decided to make a pot of homemade tomato soup. It was yummy!

I browned some onion and garlic together in some butter.

Then I added my tomatoes

Then I added some fresh basil.  I roughly chopped it because after it cooks for a while I put the whole thing in my Vitamix and blend it smooth.

I also added salt a whole lot of pepper and some italian seasoning. I then added about a 1/2 cup of Organic Cream to help thicken it up and bring out the richness.

Blended it all in the blender and It's ready to eat.  It was so good!!

Tomato Soup

7-8 Fresh tomatoes peeled, and quartered

1 med Onion

4 Cloves of Garlic (or 2T of the minced in the jar)

2T Butter

6 Leaves of Fresh Basil Roughly Chopped

1/2 Cup Organic Cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

Italian seasonings (optional)

Cook onion and garlic and butter first, then add tomatoes, basil and spices.  Cook on low heat for about an hour.  Add cream and put all into Blender or use an emersion blender in your pan.  Blend until desired consistency.  Serve with croutons or bread and garnish with fresh parsley.