Tomato Paste Day

Thanks for everyone who weighed in on what I could do to make tomato paste without heating up my house.The overwhelming suggestion was to buy a used range and park it outside.  I tried to buy one but ran out of time. I had all the makings to be able to rig a solar still but it’s cloudy today so any results would be less than stellar and I’m needing stellar with this amount of tomatoes to dehydrate.

I quarantined off the kitchen from the rest of the house with cotton sheets sandwiched with a layer of plastic. Then I opened up a basement window for cross ventilation and stuck a fan in a kitchen window. It’s still hot and muggy in the kitchen but it could be far worse. The simmering tomatoes, garlic, and handfuls of fresh basil from the garden all smell unearthly wonderful. Suddenly I recall why I liked going to all this trouble.  It’s the journey, not the destination.