Relaxation and Taxation. And Shopping!

We took it easy this weekend. After going out hiking twice each weekend for the past few weeks we rested up this weekend. My back still hurts like a week ago so I figured a brief stand-down would help. And this weekend the last tax form I was waiting on became ready, so I dove in to preparing my tax return. It was a weekend of relaxation and taxation. Oh, and shopping.

Shopping-wise, we hunted around for more of those plates and bowls we've been replacing our old set with. We hit several HomeGoods/Marshalls stores— the only place that carries them, and even then it's very spotty— after lunch on Saturday.

Sunday morning I started on the taxes. I worked until lunch. When I got back, the TurboTax site was apparently down. Well, I wanted to use the hot tub anyway. That seemed like a good time to do it!



The dip in the hot tub was nice. What I really wanted, though, was to finish my dang taxes. 😅

I was able to get back online with TurboTax after dinner. I completed the first pass through my return. Unfortunately TurboTax has something wrong in my taxes— as usual, frankly— and shows me owing nearly $1,700 more than my own estimates indicate. I'll have to dig in to fix that this coming week. Ah, TurboTax, my abusive relationship partner.

Making Marinara Sauce is Surprisingly Easy

Two nights ago I decided to make marinara sauce. It seemed weird I decided to make it.... I've got, like six jars of sauce in the pantry, representing four brands/varieties. Why not just use one them?

The fact I've got so many different jars is why I decided to try making my own. I've got all those jars because I've tried different brands/varieties trying to figure out which I like best. The one that I like best so far is Prego Traditional Lower Sodium. It's the one I bought 25 pounds of a year and a half ago. By the way, I'm still not out of it though I am getting close! Hawk dislikes Prego and prefers Rao's, a brand that's way more expensive. I decided to try making my own to see if it's one we both enjoy. And, my 25-lb supply of Prego is running out, and Costco stopped carrying it, so I need something new anyway.

I've made pasta sauce before in my kitchen... but was OMG years ago. Like, back in college. Why not since then? "It must be because it was more effort than it's worth," my subconscious told me. After all, that aligns with what I'd seen from my mother and my grandmother.... They made homemade pasta sauce to save a few pennies vs. buying a jar, and it always took them a waaay long time and never tasted anywhere near as good as the stuff from a jar.

Notwithstanding that, I decided to give it a whirl the other night.



How did it turn out? In a word: great!

I took as inspiration not the grumbling and meh results of my mom or grandmother but a couple of suggestions from a former colleague, Matt, whose father ran an Italian restaurant in San Francisco for many years.

Here are Five Things I did/learned as I prepared this sauce:

1. Use San Marzano tomatoes. That was one of Matt's instructions. "Why San Marzano, specifically?" I asked. "They have the right water content for sauce," he explained.

2. I used canned tomatoes. Matt said that was totally alright. I was worried that canned tomatoes would be too tough for a sauce and would lead to it having a very chunky texture. That's what's happened when I've used diced tomatoes before. These canned peeled tomatoes were very soft. I could crush them with a wooden cooking spoon in the saucepan into a nice, pulpy texture for the sauce.

3. Marinara is a very simple sauce. I used just 6 ingredients total. I sauteed minced garlic in olive oil in the saucepan, then added the tomatoes, then sprinkled in some dried oregano and basil. Toward the end of cooking I added two pinches of sea salt. That's it. No onions or other veg. No sugar. It's very satisfying from a perspective of knowing exactly what's in your food.

4. Garlic and oil. At Matt's suggestion I used more oil than I normally would in sauteing the garlic. The extra oil helps spread the flavor around the sauce, he explained. A lot of oil remained as I simmered the sauce. I could see it floating on top and worried it would make the texture and flavor too oily. But the oil combined well with the tomato as the sauce reduced.

5. Marinara is a quick sauce. It's not supposed to be an all-day project. Mine had reduced down to a nice consistency after just 20 minutes. If I had made a bigger batch— which I will definitely do next time— it may have taken a bit longer. But not hours.

As a bonus, I discovered the next evening that marinara sauce stores really well— at least for the short term. I used some sauce right after I made it and poured the rest into a reusable glass jar. I used another portion of it the second night... and it tasted even better. That's not surprising, actually. Savory sauces and stews that are good when fresh generally taste even better 24 hours later, as the flavors have more time to combine. I'll see how well it lasts out to the 3rd or 4th night.... With no preservatives (remember, only 6 ingredients!) I'm not sure how long it'll really last. Though since it's so totally not hard to make it's not like I have to prepare a month's supply at a time!

UPDATE: So, what did I make with it? Among other things, really good Chicago deep dish pizza!