It’s hard to believe that two years ago, right now, I was visiting Nano, for the last time and I didn’t know it.  
She wasn’t feeling so well.  As a matter of fact she was feeling terrible and I was thankful to be there, to push her around, quite literally and to make her smile with memories of our past antics.

I had no idea when I was knee high, that my strict, determined mama and I would actually one day be travel buddies. Oh we didn’t go far. Trips to the cottage and visits with old friends and a few stays in some beautiful hotels and lots of delicious food.
She’s gone, but boy have I got some happy memories. Those four weeks in the fall of 2015 were likely the hardest ones I’ve lived, but they were also the best. Family and tears and hugs and whispers and hand holding and
Loving
each other
and her. It was the end of our times together and I feel sad about it but it’s onward for us, upward for her. It’s Jesus and Nano and Papa and so many others
together
and I’m going to see them again.

I suppose this is my life from here to then. Every fall, The mess of Putting Up and canning and picking and cooking will always and forever remind me of days long gone. The preachers wife doing what needed doing so we could eat fruit and vegetables all winter.
A warm kitchen and a set table and jars of peaches and plums and cherries and apple pies and
I’m not kidding
it
always
smelled
so good in Nano’s kitchen.

Do you remember, Jan, the time you came to visit when I was there to visit, at that mint green condo? It was literally the crack of dawn and Nano was still driving that little silver car then. I woke up, early, to smell something baking and wondered
what in the World
and I called to her from that little bed in that little room and she said she was making
muffins for breakfast but she needed to do a wee errand before we ate them.
I thought nothing of it and turned over under that pink quilt that you had used at Bible College and she still had it and I slept under it when I went.
Just a few minutes later the door opened and in she walked, with you right behind. She had picked you up at the little airport down the street and over a couple of roads near the blueberry farms.
You had come to see us and we ate muffins, warm, and Nano had her apron on and it was fun
and crazy but such a good idea.

I cannot eat a muffin without thinking of her. Just the other day I was telling someone that Nano would not eat a muffin if it couldn’t first be heated. In a cafe or at an airport or on the road, muffins needed to be warm and better still, have a dab of butter.
You know, I’m the same now.
“Is it possible to have this heated up”? I ask. Sometimes the answer is “no” and sometimes the server looks at me strange but
it never hurts to ask as long as you ask nicely!

I made muffins this week. They are so good. Nano would love them and I would love to share them with her. I would of course heat hers first and add some butter and there would be tea involved and likely an apron or two.

There is a new stock of aprons on the  apron market (everyday link) and you really should try the zucchini breakfast muffins.

I did some preserving of tomatoes, just the other day. Fall is in the air and I’ve told you before (you can check the archives of the blog. Just type in August or September ’14, ’15, ’16) how the preserving bug hits most years at just about this time. It may be hereditary for all I know. Nano sure was bitten by the same Fall preserving bug, every one of my growing up years. She loved to do it and she passed that love on to me. Sure it’s work, but it’s so rewarding.  In Nano’s case, she needed to preserve in order to have food for the winter.  As recent as my childhood, which is not actually that recent as it turns out, we had a fruit cellar filled with all sorts of fruit and vegetables that Nano had “put up”.

An important fact I am learning about tomatoes is that they need to be ripe.  I mean, not just reddish.  They need to be red and then some.   If you can find a market or a farm where they are grown, the farmer will give you a lesson on tomatoes and what makes them delicious.  It’s late summer, so we don’t want to be buying tomatoes that taste like winter time tomatoes.  If you leave them to ripen properly they are so sweet you will not soon forget what a ripe tomato tastes like.

I’m going to give you the recipes and despite being a messy job, I enjoy the process. The key to keeping your sanity is to prepare before starting. You will need a large pot. Believe me, kitchen work/cooking is so much more efficient and enjoyable if you use the right sized equipment. I have a Large cutting board and I have a Large stock pot(Large being approx.10 to 12 litres). If you don’t have either, Caynes or the Bay are great sources.

Roll up your sleeves and get your gear in order.

I have had roasted tomatoes a few times in restaurants, on charcuterie platters. They make a beautiful and delicious addition, in a pretty bowl. They are also fantastic on a grilled cheese or deli style sandwich.  You can even put them on pizza.  Oh and I almost forgot, on a platter with burrata.   I decided to make a batch of my own, to keep on hand.
Try them. They are so good!

I also canned ten pints (500 ml) of tomato “sauce”. The quotation marks are added because “sauce” is very subjective. Some like it spicy, some like it thick, some like it thin, some like it sweet. You understand! I made it medium thickness and I’m calling it sauce. The prep for most tomato recipes is the same. These recipes are the same initial prep as for my Salsa Recipe. Taste as you are cooking and decide if you want more salt, or more spice. I think it’s always wise to start with less until you taste, even if your recipe source is reliable.  Another thing to remember is that the spice becomes more intense as the sauce sits and “ripens”.

Click on the highlighted links to find the recipes.