You know, I never realized just how heavily I lean on canned tomatoes until recently. I was making a random pasta dish, went to the pantry and (GASP!) I was out of tomatoes. I try to keep fresh on hand, but I'm sure you will understand that logic is not always feasible-especially in the winter time. The recipe below will allow you to have fresh tomatoes all year long. I had recently stumbled upon an article explaining the art of freezing fresh tomatoes to be just as friendly as the canned variety, only BETTER. So I rushed out and bought a few tomatoes, and set to work. The idea behind freezing them in ice cube trays (as you'll see below) is that you can add as many individual cubes to your dish as needed, which is much better than wasting part of a can. The following photos are my first attempt at creating frozen "canned" tomatoes with garlic.

Step 1: Blanch the tomato in a pot of boiling water for a few seconds.

Step 2: Peel off skin and chop roughly. Add tomato chunk and fresh garlic to food processor.

Step 3: Puree to desired thickness. (I chopped a little more finely than the canned variety.)

Step 4: Pour into ice cube trays.

We are leaving in a few hours for South Carolina, and to say that I'm excited would be a major understatement. The only cruddy thing about leaving is the weather, as we're going to be driving through a tropical depression. Other than that, nothing but peaches and cream. Storm or no storm, I am SO ready for a vacation! Hope everyone in Blogger Land has a lovely holiday weekend...

Blessings and Light,

Jess