blogger mom

I think I'm going to start posting recipes that use local preserved food every so often on this blog. I have become passionate about local food over the last year and I would love if some of you who read this blog catch the "locavore" bug as well! We all know that we should be looking for ways to minimize the footprint we leave behind on our environment. Eating locally is such a fun way to do that. Plus, it makes a huge difference for our local economy, which we all know is very important right now as well. And, it just tastes so good! So, here's my first entry. Eric said my blog desperately needs pictures, so I'll try to include pictures of the finished meal from now on. However, tonight's meal is already in our stomachs!

101 REASONS TO PRESERVE FOOD

The snow has finally hit Columbus. Warm food tastes really great when the wind chill is -15. This morning Riley asked for grilled cheese for dinner. The got my creative meal energy flowing. The grilled cheese would be easy. We still have one loaf left of the whole wheat sandwich bread we made on Saturday night. Eric picked up extra cheese at the winter market on Saturday, and the Montery Jack would make a good grilled cheese. Of course, nothing is better with grilled cheese than tomato soup. I don't really know any farmers that are growing tomatoes in January, which is why I was so excited to see the bags of frozen roma tomatoes in the deep freezer. I started searching the internet and found a recipe on line that looked kind of like what I was craving, but it needed a little help. Here's the final recipe...

Saute 3/4 c. chopped onions in 5T. butter (Hartzler dairy butter is awesome) until onions are tender. Stir in 4T flour and stir while bubbling for 2 minutes. Slowly add 2 1/2 c. milk (please try Snowville!)and 1 1/2 c. water stirring until it thickens a bit. Add 2T Frontier Vegetable Broth powder (or bouillon would work), 1 1/2 t. sugar, 1 1/2 t. salt, 1 bay leaf, 1 1/2 t. basil, 2 cloves garlic (pressed). Continue to stir. In another bowl stir together 3 c. chopped tomatoes and 1/2 t. baking soda. Add to cream soup mixture along with 1 small can of tomato paste. Put all of it in the blender and blend until smooth. Reheat and serve.

Why preserve summer's harvest? Because you can sit watching the snow fall and enjoy fresh local tomato soup and grilled cheese long after the last tomato has been harvested.