It's been a while since my last post.  The reason being I've spent much of the previous two weeks whizzing up and down Interstate 95 visiting colleges with my eldest daughter.  It's been an education! We've wandered around many beautiful campuses, listened to countless information sessions and driven hundreds and hundreds of miles. 

I think the best part, at least for me, is having my daughter all to myself, a sort of captive audience, poor girl.  Things were going beautifully until after an afternoon tour with another long drive ahead of us, we climbed back into the car, turned the ignition and NOTHING!!  Not a chug or whimper. We called for a tow truck and sat in the admissions parking lot for 2 1/2 hours amusing ourselves with "practice interviews."    "Just think" I told my daughter, "they're bound to remember you here."  "Oh yes, you're the one with the mother who had a meltdown in the parking lot."  We eventually got the car working, which was a little sad as I was considering renting a convertible, were assured that as long as we didn't turn off the engine we would make it another hundred miles.  We did.

Once home it was impossible to ignore the tomato plants any longer. They were laden, many of the ripest produce had already been plundered by the birds and other wildlife.  I picked what was left and set about making tomato sauce.  It always amazes me how meltingly sweet homemade tomato sauce is.

I blanched, skinned, seeded and chopped the tomatoes.  It wasn't as laborious as I feared and the result was a smooth, silky almost buttery sauce.

Tomato Sauce.

About 16 medium - large tomatoes

Olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

Fresh basil sprigs

1 teaspoonful sugar

Salt and pepper

Heat approximately 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan or Dutch oven. 

Finely chop the onion and cook until transculent.

Meanwhile fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil.  Place approx 4-5 tomatoes into the boiling water for about 10 seconds. Remove the tomatoes and place in a colander to drain. Continue until all the tomatoes have been blanched.

Peel, core, seed and squeeze out the excess juice from the tomatoes.  Chop well.

Add the tomatoes to the onions, mix thoroughly, bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer.  Cook for a further 25 - 30 minutes until sauce is nice and thick and rich.  Use immediately or refrigerate for later use.