domestications.

Someone, somewhere, flipped a switch that triggered an end to the record-breaking heat we've experienced for weeks (but not the drought) and brought on cool, clear, crisp weather for the weekend. Which was perfect for the two projects we undertook: canning and seeding.

Re: the latter—Lawn Master Rob was dissatisfied with the patches of weird grass scattered around the yard and so tackled his annual seeding project, first killing the offending grasses, then pulling up the chaff, laying down topsoil, scattering seed and then finishing with a top-dressing. Now, we water and wait for the seedlings to emerge.

I was unable to scratch my canning itch while we were living in New Jersey, and last fall the preserving project involved jelly, not tomato sauce. So I got about 30 pounds of tomatoes (romas and regulars) at Findlay Market on Saturday morning, scoured the basement for supplies (canning pot: check, jars and lids: check, Ball Blue Book: check) and started work. I ended up with 8 pints of tomato sauce and 5 pints of salsa (one of which didn't seal properly; oh well). Then I attempted tomato preserves, with so-so results.

Sitting outdoors at lunch today, I continued reading Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," which I highly recommend. After our weekend activities, one passage really struck a chord:

Eternal is the right frame of mind for making food for a family: cooking down the tomatoes into a red-gold oregano-scented sauce for pasta. Before that, harvesting sun-ripened fruits, pinching oregano leaves from their stems, growing these things from seed—yes. A lifetime is what I'm after. Cooking is definitely one of the things we do for fun around here.