Lemonade, of sorts

I've been having fun playing with something called Pinterest.  It's like a virtual pinboard,or bulletin board, where you can "pin" images that you find online, and organize them on various "boards" of your own choosing. I like it so much better than a "favorites" list since it is all visual, and easier for me to organize. Clicking on a "pin" or image sends you to the original source post.   There is a social aspect too, where you can look in on other people's "boards" and "follow" people whose style you like.  This isn't a paid endorsement or anything, I just wanted to tell you how I came to see this little gem on a friend's Pinterest board she titled "humorous":

 

Well, this week the Barn of Opportunity brought me water, sugar AND lemons:

 My" lemons" came last Thursday, when I heard that someone had dumped a whole lot of canvas and webbing, and parts of LLBean tote bags in Bin #2 at the Barn.  I scurried over and indeed found some great bag handles.

Who was this mystery Bean employee?

Today my "sugar" came in the form of empty feed bags. Lots and lots of them, piled up at the barn, that Ramona was nice enough to share with me. I'm partial to the ones with nice barnyard animals on them.



 I took home a dozen.

And the "water" I suppose came in the form of a rainy afternoon, with some kids who occupied themselves, while I cranked out four upcycled tote bags in one hour!  If you want one, stop in to the Long Branch General Store. I know they sell real lemonade, too.

Love affair with a gadget

 At the risk of sounding a bit loony, I must tell you about my favorite gadget.  I am truly in love with a gadget.  It is the Foley Food Mill.

I have vivid sensory memories of Mom making applesauce with the Foley Food Mill. I am sure she made other things with it, but I mostly remember the applesauce.  When it was referred to in my home, it was always with its surname, the Foley Food Mill. As if there were other food mills in the cupboard? One other household item from my childhood has that same formal naming: the Scotch Cooler. I'm sure I'll think of others (or maybe my siblings will chime in).

You can only imagine my glee when I found my very own at the Barn of Opportunity gift shop years ago.

 I sped home and whipped up a batch of applesauce. Yummers.

And today, I made a small batch of my favorite roasted tomato sauce, just like Adelaida Gaviria taught me. This sauce is September ambrosia when the tomatoes on my counter get ahead of my capacity to eat them raw and my desire to process them in any fancy way. I cut them in big chunks, toss them with olive oil, add some garlic cloves and an onion, and slow roast it all for a couple of hours while I do something else, smelling the best-ever smell. Then a few spins in the Foley Food Mill and there it is, what I call Laida's Lazy Tomato Sauce.

I won't be winning any awards for food photographs here.  My son tells me these don't look appealing at all.  You'll have to take my word for it, until blogs have an aroma attachment.