10/20/06

DOES YOUR HOUSE HAVE TO BE PERFECT? and Roasted Garden Tomatoes

You have more confidence in yourself when you can succeed and accept that it’s okay to fail sometimes, even in your own home! I gave up the idea that my house has to be perfect before guests arrive. Now don’t get me wrong, if I’m having a dinner party and I have the time, I do plan my time accordingly and try to get my house clean. I find I enjoy myself more if my “ducks are in a row.” But I’ve loosened up when guests show up unannounced.

We have a traditional progressive dinner with the same 4 couples twice a year. These are our dear, down-to-earth, best-friends-in-life kind of friends! About a month ago we had our fall dinner and discussed whether a woman feels better if her house is clean before guests arrive. The women all agreed it is important to them – the men said it didn’t make sense.

What do you think?

I roasted my last crop of TOMATOES from our garden tonight. The house still smells of basil and garlic. Here is my recipe (no need to skin your tomatoes!):

Take a large pan with a 1 inch lip (I use the Pampered Chef Bar pan)
Cut your tomatoes in 1 inch chunks
Cover with fresh basil, chopped finely
Press or chop about 12-15 cloves of garlic
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste
Drizzle olive oil over the top
I take my hands and mix it all together
Drain off juices
Roast at 450 for 1 hour? Or until juices are gone
Take the tomatoes and puree (I use my Cuisinart)
Freeze in Ziploc bag!!

Bye-bye to canning tomato sauce! In my opinion, this is a superior way. Thanks to my friend Camille who shared the recipe with me this summer.

8 comments:

Barb said...

Why would it not make sense to want to have a clean house before guests arrive??? The only time I've ever heard that spoken was in regard to children's parties--better to wait to clean up after the kids have been there and gone. Otherwise, who wants to invite friends into dust and laundry and clutter?

Sandy said...

It made sense to us women to have things as clean as we could, each to our own comfort level. But the men all agreed that it didn't matter to them. When they walk into a home they do not notice if a house is dirty or cluttered. What they want is good food and conversation. Of course my husband jokingly said he'd notice if he stepped on a dirty diaper!

Barb said...

Groooooooooss! :oP

Barb said...

Actually, my teen boys are always telling me that--you don't hafta clean up, Mom! Our friends won't notice! Altho a dirty diaper I think they'd notice, for sure. Eeeewww...

Deeanne Gist said...

I prefer a clean house--so long as I don't have to do the cleaning! ;-)

My husband is a neat freak. He would *definitely* notice if a house was clean or not. He power washes the driveway before we have guests. (I'm surprised he doesn't make them park in the street. Ha!)

Barb said...

OK, my husband is a neat freak too, raised by a Better Homes and Gardens mother, but he doesn't power wash the driveway every time we have company! That's serious neat-freakiness!

Sandy said...

All four men agreed that the content of conversation and *fellowship* (Dee's little stars) is really what matters to them. So why stress over the house? It was a very interesting conversation. The four of us women still agreed that we relax and enjoy the evening more when our house is clean!

GiBee said...

OH!!! Delicious!!! Thanks for linking back to this yummy recipe!