Monday, October 10, 2011

Tomato Juice

It's been a while since I've chatted with you, but it hasn't been for lack of desire.  It's been a crazy summer, one of sadness, misfortune, miscommunication, and just downright cosmic ornery-ness, it seems.  We all go through these cycles, and it was just my turn to endure and grow and learn from it all.

In the meantime, I haven't done a lot of new cooking, relying on the quick and familiar in an uncertain time. However, one of the goals I had set for myself this season was to have a small garden and learn how to do some canning.  I turned the plot over by hand (as I said, it was a small garden), fertilized and planted, and everything seemed to go along swimmingly. I was so happy to see my little garden flourishing!

Then the rains came.  Soft and gentle at first, and we were happy to see it water the garden,  And then it didn't stop, and then it rained so hard that my yard flooded, became a pond, and a lot of my back-breaking effort was washed away. I am not complaining; our sister state, Vermont, has suffered severe losses of homes and property, and businesses.  Some roads are still barely passable.  For us, it was more of an inconvenience so we were fortunate to be able to  salvage what we could, and a few gorgeous tomatoes were among them.

We drink a lot of tomato juice in this household, maybe a half a gallon every week and we never seem to tire of it.  We take the occasional break and try other juices but always return to tomato juice, so it was no big surprise that I decided to try homemade tomato juice.

Just let me assure you that there is no comparison!  Good golly, Miss Molly, this was good!  It took a little getting used to because everthing was fresh (and admittedly gave poor Ole Sweetie-Pi "bubbles in the belly" because he's not accustomed to consuming glasses and glasses of fresh veggies, smiles).

If you enjoy having fresh vegetables, no preservatives or chemical addivities, I believe you'll enjoy this.  It's like drinking liquid sunshine.

Tomato Juice
(Food.Com)

12 medium tomatoes, cored and cut into quarters
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Combine the first six ingredients in a Dutch oven and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Put the vegetables through a food mill or a sieve, squeezing out as much liquid as possible.  Discard cooked vegetables (or if you're clever and frugal, perhaps use in a soup?)

To the juice, add the spices. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your personal taste.   Chill the juice thoroughly before serving. 

11 comments:

  1. Hi Katy! Good to see you. Yes we all have to endure the ups and downs in life, but we do grow from it. Oh yes, tomato juice homemade is the best. Last year we got a lot of tomatoes and I definitely made tomato juice. Nothing like it and you know for sure there are no preservatives. Glad to see you are gardening, we couldn't be without our veggies garden. We just put in the winter garden. Life is good no matter what. Take care and nice to see you.

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  2. Oh Katy so sad that your garden washed away. Your tomato juice looks wonderful..and it's so healthy for you too. I chuckled at the 'bubbles in the belly' line.

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  3. This looks delicious, I've tried and tried to grow tomatoes without ANY luck. Sorry to hear that you've had a stressful summer. Lets hope the winter is better.

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  4. We had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year and I made lots of fresh tomato juice. I just ran the fresh tomatoes through the food mill. I like that your recipe incorporates some other flavors in the juice.
    Mimi

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  5. I am sorry to hear about too much life happening...glad to see that things are returning to normal for you.

    I am ashamed to say that the only time I enjoy tomato juice in a Bloody Mary or as a sauce base for stuffed cabbage rolls.

    Fresh tomato juice looks really good. Very nice.

    Cheers.
    Velva

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  6. hi katy! i'm sorry to hear that things have been a bit hectic, but hopefully things will calm for you very soon! this tomato juice looks amazing! we've been drinking a lot of tomato juice too, i'd love the homemade version!

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  7. Glad to see you again... and so sorry to hear of your "valley"... I hope everything just goes up from here on...
    I had to smile about the bubbles... I remember well... my hubby went through it too when I had my garden years ago... we tried tomato juice too... we had a bumper crop.. we had tomato everything...lol...
    I loved your garden pic! I will have to try making the tomato juice... I love tomato juice too.

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  8. Happy to see you back my friend! I love tomato juice, thanks for sharing and have a wonderful day!
    Cheers

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  9. Beautiful looking tomato juice. I love it, also. I'm proud of you for doing this. Thanks.

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  10. Our mile high garden in Denver did so so. Tomatoes had an off year so I will just enjoy all your receips and save them for next year. It better be a bumper next year, because this juice sounds yummy!

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  11. Ooooh I just love fresh tomatoes, and I love tomato juice...but for some reason I never thought of making my own fresh tomato juice! Great post :)

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