In the Kitchen with Leon

As I looked at all my tomatoes, I didn’t want to waste any of them but am never sure just what to do with them. One thing is certain you won’t use them all, right now. So I was off finding my options for the tomatoes sitting on the sunroom floor.

First there was roasted tomato sauce. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, and basil with a little olive oil, salt and pepper drizzled over the top and into the oven for about an hour until all the tomatoes are wrinkled and the basil and onion blacken. Then it was into the blender for a smooth sauce good for a number of uses. I have found it good with spaghetti or other pasta. Adding a little ground beef or sausage made a great dinner. But then all of that can’t be use NOW. I did six baking dishes of them after all. So two cups of sauce are put into freezer bags and into the freezer. Oh yes, don’t forget to leave some in a container in the refrigerator for use this week.

Next there was salsa. Tomatoes, red onion, garlic, cilantro, and hot pepper all finely chopped. That was the biggest job. No food processor can do the job just the way you want it done. I would have to say this has been a hit with visitors that have stopped by. A few chips and the people were very happy.

But there were still more tomatoes and I had five bags of sauce in the freezer. Then it was drying tomatoes in the oven. Well that was simple cut in half, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and into the warm oven for ten hours. They are not completely dry but look great. I am looking forward to trying them with some pasta, mushrooms, olive oil, and ???

With all the cooking, I decided it was time to share with neighbors some of my work. So we had three of the couples in the neighborhood over for our Italian dinner. After all there I can make the stuffed tomatoes, and put diced tomatoes in both the soup and beef dish. Oh yes, a little slice of tomato is a great topper on the crostini covered with some of the fresh pesto and Parmesan cheese.

Well that had taken care of most of the tomatoes and I was getting tired of the tomatoes. It was off to my new cookbook of American Classics where I found a great recipe for Chicken and Dumplings. Starting with a whole chicken and using the back and wings to make the chicken broth and topping with the light dumplings, it was a wonderful trip through the kitchen. Well, with all the food you had to have company so a last minute call to Norm and Mary Lee provided some assistance in eating the fresh salsa and Chicken and Dumplings.

Visit to the Zoo

It was Stevie’s ninth birthday so a trip to the Oregon Zoo and Chuck E Cheese was required. The weather forecast said it was to be sunny and warm but it was cloudy and raining off and on. But it wasn’t that cold and cool weather that meant that the animals were more active. Some were inside but then we could go inside and stay out of the rain.

What was the favorite animal to visit? For the granddaughters it was the penguins. I think it was prompted by the ability to play with the penguins. The penguins liked their pink jackets and would follow their arms as they moved them next to the glass. As for me it was hard to select a favorite. The Anaconda was huge with only its nose above the water so it could breath to the wolf wondering about its space.

It must have been feeding time. Many of the animals were eating that made taking photographs difficult in many cases. The grizzly bear would never raise his head while the chimpanzee was fun to watch as he took the ears of corn from the others to eat. The elephants didn’t seem to want to be out in the rain so didn’t see much of them except for the younger one that seemed to be chased away from the entrances. Maybe there was food in there and they didn’t want to share.

After about three hours wondering around the zoo, the girls wanted to leave. Since the zoo was about to close, we called their Father and headed for Chuck E Cheese. For the girls this is tokens that they seem to spend quickly to get a few prize tickets that they can exchange for cheap prizes. Oh yes, there is also pizza and soda but they have little time for that until the tokens are gone. But it makes them happy and Grandma always gets a picture of them with Chuck E Cheese.

King Estate Winery Visit

The warm fall days make for a great outing through the Oregon countryside. We spent last Saturday taking the back roads to visit the King Estate Winery. The winery is located south of Eugene on a hill overlooking the vineyards of grapes used to make the wine. Taking the back roads was slower but allowed more opportunity to see the countryside. A couple of times I had to pull over to let some of the local drivers speed on down the road. They see it every day and don’t find any special enjoyment in the view.

Once there we had to find our way to the tasting bar. A couple of car clubs were just leaving so it was not too crowded. After tasting six generous pours of different local wines from the winery including two sweet after dinner wines, we were ready for lunch. We purchased a couple of bottles of wine and started our wait for a table. They serve a small plate lunch and a larger dinner after 5 PM. Each dish has a suggested wine given but not required. There was a breeze that made dining outside in the shade cool but the view made it worth getting a jacket.


It was one of those days that would be nice to do more often but the distance does make it something you must plan to do.