Early Summer Tomato Jam

We’ve been exceedingly blessed with weather in the Bay Area this year. A mild winter transitioned gracefully into an early spring with sunny days arriving mid-April with seemingly no end in sight. We can’t help but relish these sun-drenched days by spending the entire afternoon outside, soaking up the Vitamin D, sipping on cold white wine and doing very little else. I chalk it up to our Southern California roots but when the sun is out, so are we. As a result of this wonderful stroke of good weather, we’ve managed to get little else done lately…one of those ‘good problems’ to be sure.

That said though, I quietly delighted waking up to a drizzly overcast Sunday yesterday. DH was away for the weekend so I cycled down to the DMV Farmer’s Market, spent a ridiculous sum on waaaaay too much produce and spent the entire day cooking in the kitchen.

On the day’s agenda:

-fresh whipped butter with chopped radish

-fresh ricotta with lemon

-gremolata

and last but certainly not least…

-early summer tomato jam

The original intent for the tomato jam was to enter it in Pizzaiolo’s Jam/Pie Contest for this Sunday’s fundraiser but it’s come to my attention that the fundraiser was cancelled due to lack of ticket sales. Bummer.

This was my first attempt at tomato jam. I wanted to make a more savory jam, ideally with less sugar. Full disclosure, I’ve been attempting to avoid all refined sugar as of late. But sure enough, tomato jam calls for a good amount of sugar to bring the fruit together, arguably more than other summer fruits with higher natural sugar content such as berries or stone fruit. C’est la vie. On with the recipe…

Chop tomatoes and a white onion. Add sugar (some recipes call for as much as a 1lb::1cup ratio but I lessened the sugar ratio to 5lb::3cups). Add spices (cumin, coriander, caraway & cayenne were my choice). Add lemon juice or vinegar. I chose sherry vinegar but balsamic might have been nice with more Mediterranean spices. 

Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy bottomed pot and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Keep mixture at a boil for a minute or so, then reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally. 

Cooking time from this point on will depend entirely on the juiciness of the tomatoes. Mine were rather juicy so the cooking time was close to 4 hours. Once the mixture reached jam-like consistency, remove from heat and let cool slightly. Then transfer mixture into canning jars and turn upside down to cool. For long-term storage, stabilize cans in a hot water bath for 15 minutes.

Maybe its from not eating sugar for a full week or maybe it’s just that I expected it to be more savory but the jam tasted too sweet for my taste. DH loved it, especially on toasts with the fresh ricotta. Paired with a Bloomsdale spinach salad with fresh onions, pickled radish, pecans & gremolata, the tomato jam made a nice addition to an easy dinner.

Hunger Challenge; day 5

I was awoken abruptly at 6am this morning to the indisputable sound of the peanut butter panda puffs hitting an empty cereal bowl. "But it couldn't be!", I thought, we still have one more day of the hunger challenge. DH couldn't be sneaking sweet, crunchy cereal into his repertoire, or could he?
My sinking suspicions were confirmed at the sequential sounds of chomping. When he came to kiss me good bye, I asked him about the cereal incident. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Emily" very quickly dissolved into, "aren't we done with the Hunger Challenge yet??"
Silly boy.
After reading the day 4's entry once more, I could see how one would think that was the last day. It did have a sense of conclusion to it.
Oh well.
I ate my cinnamon oatmeal and the rest of the chana dal rice for breakfast and lunch respectively but when our weekend house guests graciously offered to take us out to dinner at our favorite local restaurant, Pizzaiolo, I caved. The thought of fire-crusted pizzas, house made pastas and ice cold beers was almost too much to bare.
Yes, we are weak people.
We cave on greater goals to peanut butter panda puffs and pizza. There's no getting around the facts.
I definitely plan to do the Hunger Challenge next year, far more prepared than this year. I learned a lot about myself and the food stamp system as a whole through the process. And anyway, the pizza was completely worth it!

Summer Movie Series at Pizzaiolo

L:August's film posters; R:a particularly fun scene from '9to5'

Outdoor movie screenings are synonymous with summertime.

There are few greater joys in the Jun-July-August months than sitting outside on a hot and balmy summer night, watching an old classic movie projected onto a white wall or makeshift screen. The reward of the oppressive heat of the day comes in the form of a delayed sunset and warm summer night.

But wait, we’re in the Bay Area, so scratch all that!

Instead, we have overcast mornings, occasionally gorgeous, temperate days and often foggy, misty nights. Yes, even in East Bay.

Upon moving here, everyone assured us East Bay was immune to the cloudy days, particularly in the summertime. I don’t know if it’s been an out-of-the-ordinary summer or if we are big-time LA-weather babies, (or a little of both) but these overcast skies and misty evenings are almost more than we can handle.

Setting up the screen at Pizzaiolo

Summer is all about sweltering heat, short shorts and shorter dresses and those hot summer nights.

Despite less than desired temperatures, DH and I still made our way to quite a few Summertime Movie Screenings, most of which taking place at Pizzaiolo in Oakland.

Pizzaiolo's impressive outdoor pantry

The Drew Classic: margherita w egg & anchovies

Pizzaiolo occupies a large part of my heart for several reasons.
First, it shares the name of the beloved pizza place Anush and I patronized every Saturday afternoon of our second year in Florence, Italy. Second, it was the first place DH and I ate at the night we found our apartment here in Oakland. And lastly, every time we eat at Pizzaiolo, the staff treats us better than anywhere, every time. At the risk of sounding like some God-awful Olive Garden advert, it always feels like we’re family or friends of the wait staff. On top of all that nostalgia, the pizza is best I’ve eaten, outside of Italy. Period.

Pizzaiolo's outdoor patio

Every summer Pizzaiolo does a Summer Movie Series with a different theme each month. This is not your conventional summer movie series, but rather a wild, wonderful mix of super classics and obscure cult favorites.

Little Shop of Horrors

June’s theme of Horrible Bosses featured ‘Network’, ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ and ‘Trading Places’.

gorgeous Anita, dancing in West Side Story

The Warriors

July’s Hot New York Nights included my two all-time favorites, 'West Side Story' and 'The Warriors'.

Pam Grier in Foxy Brown

seriously badass bitches of Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!

August’s Bad Ass Bitches series was by far the most varied and valiant. From the sultry ‘Foxy Brown’ and Russ Meyer’s ‘Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!’ onto the lesbian thriller out of Hong Kong, ‘Naked Killer’ and  ‘The Rose Tattoo’, a Tennessee Williams adaptation.

9to5

The ever-classic ‘9to5’ was the perfect finale flick to complete the ‘Bad Ass Bitches’ series and round out Pizzaiolo’s Summer Movie Series. Dolly Parton, Lilly Tomlin and Jane Fonda banding together to give their boss hell? What could be more badass than that!?

Concession stand menu

And in fact, DH and I had never seen the backyard patio packed full of badass bitches! We attempted to reserve one of the few patio tables but naturally they’d been booked for months in advance. Dolly fans are serious! Luckily there is an old school concession stand serving beer, wine and delicious, decadent, pine nut-spiked meatball subs. DH was able to order a pizza from the bar and eat it on the bleacher seats. The concession stand even had homemade oreos...amazing!

a match made in heaven!

that's a happy man

an amazing homemade oreo for dessert!

These Summer Movie Series, along with the whole general attitude at Pizziaolo, do an incredible lot to build community one pizza or one movie at a time. Here's to hoping next year's series is a little sunnier!