I had a ton of tomatoes on my hands upon returning from NYC. They'd ripened while I was away, and lots of them had been nibbled by the squirrels. The squirrels make them not-so-pretty, but they're fine to eat as long as you cut off the chewed part. So. I had a lot of kind of ugly tomatoes on my hands. What do you do with ugly tomatoes? Make tomato sauce! This was my first time making tomato sauce from scratch. In fact, it may have been my first time making tomato sauce at all.

Except for the salt and the garlic, everything in the sauce was from my back yard! I feel so awesome! Tomatoes, spices, and even a jalapeno. Just for kicks. The pasta is from parts unknown, but growing pasta seems rather difficult. I threw in some kale from the farmer's market, which is almost my backyard. It's somebody's yard, anyway.

I have decided that I'm going to clean and garden tomorrow. Yes. I have some kale seeds I'm dying to get in the ground, but I need to wait for the tomato plants to stop producing before I can pull them out. I'm going to give the basil a few weeks, too. And then I'm making an enormous batch of pesto and freezing most of it to save for the long winter months ahead. And planting kale, of course.