Mary’s recipe
“On Saturday the fourteenth of October the first wild ducks went over Salinas. Faye saw them from her window, a great wedge flying south. When Kate came in before supper, as she always did, Faye told her about it. ‘I guess the winter’s nearly here,’ she said.”
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
Inspiration
It was late September; the traditional summer months were gone. Where were the ripe juicy tomatoes I had waited for? Early this spring I planted six tomato plants. With an unusually foggy summer my plants got confused and scraggly. Lots of sprawling growth with just a few of those precious yellow buds. Even the Early Girl and San Francisco Fog resisted the temptation to flower, hiding under the blanket of coastal fog. I was envious of all the beautiful tomatoes I was seeing, especially San Marzanos and Heirlooms. Not wanting to be left out of the summer tomato mania, we went to Mariquita’s Hollister farm to pick tomatoes in late September. Hollister, California is only twenty-five miles away and perfect for growing tomatoes; inland from the coast with lots of sunshine and heat. I was waiting for the day. I had planned ahead with boxes, garden clippers, sunscreen and a hat. And yet, I faltered and was fraught with indecision, how many tomatoes did I want? What was I planning to do with them? How many tomatoes do you need for salsa? Will I harvest enough for canning? Do I really want to get involved with canning? These are excellent questions to answer before going to the farm to pick tomatoes. I brought home enough tomatoes for lots of salsa, but only enough to make three half pints of San Marzano tomato paste. Next year I will have a more strategic contingency plan for my coastal tomatoes! After my initial hesitation I purchased more heirlooms locally from The Farm: Early Cascades, Striped Germans, Brandywines, Carbons and Chocolate Stripes. I canned the heirlooms whole, and made sauce with them. The little Early Cascades were slow dried in the oven and are residing in my freezer. But the San Marzano’s had slipped through my fingers.
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