Grandma's Chili Sauce

History and Memories

This is one of the best recipes Mom got from her mother-in-law. It became almost mandatory with roast beef, pot roast, hash or meat loaf. It is also good on scrambled eggs (particularly with fried potatoes) and even in slightly messy sandwiches.

As I recall the story, Grandma got this recipe from a woman's magazine back when women's magazines were newly popular. It calls for "50 tomatoes", which is a little less specific than most recipes for processed foods today. Mom decided that this meant "medium tomatoes". I did a rough measurement with 5 tomatoes, and I figure that this amounts to about 5 or 6 quarts of diced tomatoes. Your results may vary.

I have memories of making this chili sauce as a rather big production: scalding and peeling tomatoes, grinding green peppers and onions (best done outside with a sprinkler running to limit tears) in a food mill (meat grinder). I still think the finished product tastes best when the onions and peppers are ground, but it was a messy business, with a little of the juice running down the back of the food mill onto the floor. Today, you can use a food processor if you like. Aim for onions and peppers diced to a size of about 1/4 inch - less than 1/2 inch in any case.

After following Grandma's recipe for several years, Mom decided to substitute whole spices for the ground spices in the original recipe to produce a redder sauce. She ties the whole spices in a cheesecloth or muslin bag so they can be removed after the sauce is cooked down. The longer the whole spices simmer in the sauce, the stronger the flavor they impart.  You can add more whole spices if you prefer a spicier sauce.

I compromise, leaving the celery seed swimming in the sauce and bagging the other spices.   (I am partial to celery seed).  I have used one of the little nylon tulle circles used to tie up bundles of Jordan almonds for wedding receptions.  But you run a very slight risk of melting it if you allow the sauce to scorch during cooking.

The biggest change Mom made in this recipe was adding tomato paste at the end of simmering, which drastically cuts down on the time that you need to cook the sauce down until it is thick.  Adding tomato paste also means that there is proportionately more tomato and less of the other ingredients in the final sauce. If you wish to increase the amount of the other ingredients for a zingier sauce, feel free.

According to my calculations from a "home cooking" website, a 12-ounce can of tomato paste is roughly equivalent to 6.6 cups of fresh tomatoes, packed (minus a lot of water).  This means that 4 cans of tomato paste is about equivalent to the amount of fresh tomato in the recipe.   This little comparison also gives you an idea how long Grandma's version has to be cooked down to produce a thick sauce.  Mom's new version is thicker than Grandma's version, however (at least as we prepared it).  We didn't use any paste tomatoes, either.  So the "sauce" between bits of vegetable tended to be somewhat watery.  It was still very good.

 Jason also got Mom to add jalapeño peppers for an unusual Chili Sauce Picante (or "Salsa") variation.

Ingredients

50 medium tomatoes (about 6 quarts) peeled, cored and diced to ~ 1/4 inch pieces
5 cups vinegar (we use apple cider vinegar - 5% acidity)
6 Tablespoons sugar (less sweet than most commercial chili sauces)
6 Tablespoons salt (preferably non-iodized: check labels of pickling or kosher salt for equivalent amounts)

1/2 Tablespoon cloves (ground in the original, whole in Mom's version)
1 1/2 Tablespoons allspice (ground in Grandma's version, whole in Mom's version)
2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon or 4 sticks cinnamon, broken
2 Tablespoons celery seed

4 green peppers, cores and seeds removed, ground or diced to ~ 1/4 inch
4 onions, ground or diced

For Mom's updated version: 4 twelve-ounce cans tomato paste

For Chili Sauce Picante

Add ten Jalapeño peppers, cores and seeds removed, minced - or other hot peppers to taste.   You may wish to add 2 to 4  Tablespoons of coriander seeds, toasted or not, to your spice bag and omit the celery seed, which doesn't seem very "Mexican".  Mom uses celery seed.

Directions

Tie whole spices in a cheesecloth or other food-grade cloth bundle, if using whole spices.  Combine all ingredients in a heavy-bottomed kettle and simmer briskly, uncovered until thickened. Stir frequently, particularly as sauce thickens. For Mom's version, cook down for about an hour, add the tomato paste and cook for a few more minutes. Stir frequently as above.  Remove the spice bundle.

Pack in cup, 12 ounce or pint canning jars, using normal home canning techniques. Leave 1/2 inch head space. Process in a boiling water bath (covered with boiling water) for 12 minutes if sauce is already hot when processed, about 15 - 18 minutes if sauce has cooled significantly before processing, or for larger jars.

Quarter Recipe

It's much less of a project to make a quarter batch, especially if you use a tomato variety that's easy to peel while raw.   Blanching even the easy-to-peel ones may be worthwhile if you make the larger batch above.

You can easily process jars in a large kettle, slightly elevated in a steamer insert, if you have a smooth-topped stove which doesn't work with a typical cold-pack canner. Separate canning jars in the steamer insert with clean, wet washcloths to prevent bumping during processing.

I increased some of the ingredients a little to compensate for the addition of tomato paste, for a result a little closer to Grandma's original, but redder and fresher in flavor like Mom's.

12 to 14 medium-sized tomatoes (about 6 cups peeled, cored and diced)
1 1/2 cups real apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar, scant
2 Tablespoons salt, scant

1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1 heaping teaspoon whole allspice
1 stick cinnamon, broken (I used 1/2 stick each of the assertively-flavored flaky Mexican cinnamon sticks and the harder "standard" cinnamon sticks - they're from different species of tree)
2 teaspoons celery seed, scant

1 large green pepper, diced
1 very large onion, diced

1 twelve-ounce can tomato paste

Melons, Peaches, Nectarines, Pluots, Giant Caterpillar

It has been hot this week -- as expected this time of year in the valley.  Melons and other fruits are ripening at an accelerated pace.  Here are some I picked today:

At the top left is my all-time favorite melon, Early Sugar Shaw Hybrid Crenshaw.  It shows a little sunscald, typical for these melons if you don't protect the fruits.  At the top right is a Lilly Hybrid Crenshaw - almost as big as the Sugar Shaw.  I'm looking forward to comparing them because seed of Early Sugar Shaw is no longer available (though I still have some seeds).  Next to Lilly are two Heavenly White nectarines and three Geo Pride Pluots.  Then comes a little slightly sun-scalded Savor Hybrid Charentais melon.  Next to it, if identified correctly, is Summer Dream Hybrid.  There are two varieties of melon named Summer Dream.  This is the orange-fleshed one from Japan.  It is cracked.  Watered too late in the ripening process.  Charentais melons are also very prone to cracking if watered while ripening.

At the bottom of the photo is a melon of whose identity I'm not sure.  It could be one of the Crenshaw varieties above, or Sweet Honda, a yellow-skinned, orange-fleshed melon from Japan. But it looks a lot like Lilly (perspective in the photo makes it look relatively larger than the ones in the back).  The little pale melon next to it may be an Extra Summer Sweet.   Next to it is another yellow melon - Sweet Honda or a Crenshaw.  In the center are F.'s volunteer watermelons.  The plant these came from had died back, and the melons may be over-ripe.  At the left of the photo are four July Elberta peaches and a Dapple Dandy Pluot (firm-ripe).

Giant Caterpillar

Ripe Green Tomatoes

This weekend, I picked the first fruits from our three varieties of tomatoes which are green (well, yellow-green) when ripe:  They're pictured with some orange and yellow tomatoes for comparison.  At the top is Absinthe, our largest green tomato, with a smaller specimen below and to the left.  On the right side of the plate are three AAA Sweet Solano, orange with yellow stripes.  You may not be able to see the stripes.  Next are Green Grape cherry tomatoes in various sizes, and some mystery yellow pears for color comparison.  Next going clockwise is Green Zebra - green with yellow stripes.  Then some orange cherries, most likely Sun Sugar (they were labeled Sun Sugar Red).  Then comes the yellow tomato which was supposed to have been Boondocks.

And there were more red and pink tomatoes.  At the rights is the unusually pretty pink tomato which was labeled "Black Krim".  It was sold along "German Johnson" and "Arkansas Traveler", so it may be one of those varieties.  At the bottom is a huge Anna Maria's Heart.  Next on the left is a Giant Belgium - not all that giant.  Next going clockwise in another big Anna Maria's Heart and a respectably-sized bicolor Orange Russian 117, which has characteristics of both oxheart and regular-leaf tomatoes.

Really BIG tomatoes

Temperatures went down a little after our 107-degree day, but the forecast for tomorrow is 105 degrees.  On Saturday, the family who brought their kids over for a planting experience this spring came again to pick tomatoes, peppers, squash and nectarines.  The garden is producing well.

We have gotten our biggest tomatoes of the season so far.  Some varieties which have, up until now, produced smaller tomatoes have delivered some whoppers.  Below are the biggest, with some others for contrast.

In the center is the very biggest specimen - deep as well as wide - a German Head tomato.  I think it's the biggest tomato I've ever grown.   It has on it some cherry tomotoes (they were supposed to be Sun Sugar Red, but they're probably Sun Sugar) and a penny for size comparison.  At the top are three pretty hefty Anna Maria's Heart tomatoes.  Then clockwise to what was supposed to have been a big pink beefsteak variety (Boondocks) but which is actually a fairly small yellow variety.  Then come two big (for this variety, so far) Black Krim tomatoes with a small, striped Black and Red Boar perched between them and a couple of cherries.  To the right side of the platter, three Goose Creek tomatoes - one of the size we have been getting until today, the other two quite a bit larger.  Pretty tomatoes.

Next to the Black Krim, at the bottom of the photo is a Marianna's Peace - not large for this variety.  Then comes a huge red Jet Setter hybrid fruit.  There was another just like it.  I was really expecting this to be a medium-sized tomato, along the lines of Celebrity.   Perched above these are some AAA Sweet Solano fruits.  The yellow on orange striping is quite evident today, even if it doesn't show too well in the photo.   Next going clockwise are two Brandy Boys (one to the side of the platter) with a small Ponderosa Pink perched between them.  The other tomatoes to the left of the platter are a little Barbara fruit (we're getting lots of these, some much bigger than this one) and a dark, very ribbed JD's Special C-Tex.  The shape of this one is quite variable.  Above it is a small, beautiful, smooth pink fruit with green shoulders which was supposed to be Black Krim.  I bought the plant rather than starting it from seed like the plant that produced the Black Krims on the right.   Maybe it's a chance cross or mutation.  Maybe it's mislabeled.

Variety Comparisons

Black and Red Boar vs. Nyagous:   Both of these little tomatoes are smooth and beautiful.  (Black and Red Boar is pictured above and here, in the first photo.  Nyagous is pictured in the second photo at the link)  Black and Red Boar is heavily striped.  Nyagous has a dusky blend of colors.  The overall color family of both is similar on the outside.  On the inside, Black and Red Boar is dusky pink, without the green coloration typical of the "black" tomatoes.  It is soft, slightly sweet and quite flavorful.  Nyagous shows light vein-like markings on dusky flesh when peeled - quite distinctive and beautiful.  Both tomatoes are quite easy to peel, except for the shoulders on Nyagous.  Nyagous is also soft, but is juicer, a little sweeter and has a smoky flavor typical of a black tomato.  This was a very ripe specimen.

Black and Red Boar gets the nod for its extraordinary appearance, Nyagous for flavor.

Cucumbers, Climbing Squash Plants, Fruit Tree Pests

Below is a photo of the cucumbers I picked yesterday, with some of the tomatoes we picked at the same time.  We got some LONG cucumbers.  At the bottom are two Natsuhikari - our first of the season.  Then a ribbed Suhyo TK, then the tomatoes, then several Summer Dance cucumbers - not all as perfect as they usually are.

We've had a spider mite invasion of several of our stone fruit trees.  Today I sprayed the Heavenly White Nectarine tree pictured below with a jet of water.  Much to the consternation of our dog, Maggie.  The tree is due for some extra pruning this summer.  It's currently losing a few leaves due to the mites.  Hope rinsing off the leaves gives predators of the mites a chance.  They're very difficult to control with insecticides.   You can see one of F's winter squash plants climbing the tree.  He planted several of them where they would tend to overtake our plants.

Below is our drenched Warrior Princess Maggie resting after her epic battle with the water hose.

More Interesting Tomatoes

The photo below includes examples of some of the interesting tomatoes developed by Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms, plus some others.  The dusky, striped little tomatoes at the top are Pink Berkeley Tie Dye.  Next, going clockwise, comes Beam's Yellow Pear.  Then come three Purple Passion,  some smaller Evans Purple Pear and then Yellow Submarine.  At the bottom are some striped Black and Red Boar specimens.  Then comes our mystery yellow pear (extra seedling with a purchased Brandy Boy plant), Haley's Purple Comet - a large oval cherry tomato, then Golden Egg, Grightmire's Pride (an oxheart  tomato - my choice today for fresh salsa) and AAA Sweet Solano - a small, oranged tomato striped yellow, with some green markings.  In the center are three Orange Russian 117 tomatoes - a bicolor oxheart cross.  

The contrast in color between "Purple Passion" and "Evan's Purple Pear is an example of the two varieties of "PURPLE" in the tomato world.  The first type, like "Purple Passion" is along the lines of a rosy pink, and comes mostly from the absence of yellow pigment in the skin of ripe tomatoes.  Famous older varieties in this category are "Pruden's Purple" and "Aunt Ginny's Purple".  The second category of purple tomatoes is a dusky type, often with some green coloration, similar to the "black" tomatoes.  It is typified by "Cherokee Purple", which I grew last year.  The coloration of "Gary O' Sena" in the photo below is similar to that of Cherokee Purple, one of its parents.  The "JD's Special C-Tex" below characterizes the "green shoulder" stage at which this type of tomato is often picked.

The second tomato photo for today includes, at the top, Brandywine OTV (my choice today for a fresh slicer);  four little Goose Creek tomatoes; a big, dusky, irregular Gary O' Sena;  smaller dusky Nyagous (note the yellower skin tone), two Marianna's Peace specimens; Three nearly-perfect Momotaro tomatoes and several Black Krim specimens of different sizes.  In the center, next to the Black Krim are two Anna Russian tomatoes, more typical oxheart shapes than the double one pictured last time.  Below them is a JD's Special C-Tex - looking more like a typical small beefsteak than the big boat-shaped specimen last time.

Skillet Lasagna with Shredded Zucchini

Tips and Comments
This recipe is a good way to use zucchini or other summer squash when your plants are producing more than you expected. Shredding the zucchini makes this dish palatable to most people who don't like zucchini because of its texture. (You can only eat so much zucchini bread, another favorite recipe for "sneaking in" some zucchini). And the strong flavors of a tomato-based spaghetti sauce mask the flavor of even the darkest green zucchinis, with the overall effect of making the sauce taste milder.

Some of the extra moisture released from the squash is absorbed by the no-boil lasagna noodles as they cook. If you're too rushed to make lasagna, you can add a little shredded zucchini to almost any chunky pasta sauce. Or use part zucchini and part shredded carrots (for a slightly sweeter taste).

Yellow zucchini or straighneck squash looks especially nice in this recipe. It would also work with steamed and flaked-out strands of spaghetti squash. I prefer immature spaghetti squashes (when the rind can still be easily pierced by a fingernail) to ripe ones when serving with a tomato-based sauces. Even if you like ripe spaghetti squash, there are always a few fruits which don't mature to the hard-rind stage by the end of the season. This would be one good way to use them.

The recipe below makes a lot of lasagna.  If you wanted to halve the recipe, a 9 x 9 inch baking pan or skillet would allow you to use one sheet of noodles per layer of the Ondine noodles.   There are also "no boil" lasagna noodles which look more like the traditional ones, which might be more convenient for this recipe. Or see the 2-layer variation (using only 2 pounds of cottage cheese) at the end of the recipe. It cooks in about 25 minutes after layering the prepared ingredients. It's the one I usually make now.

You could also bake the recipe below in the oven (try 20 minutes at 350 degrees before topping with cheese, or estimate baking time from a recipe on the package of your no-boil lasagna noodles), but it's too hot here to bake right now, so I made it in a big (12 x 16 inch) non-stick electric skillet. I used "no boil" lasagna noodles which came in thin, corrugated sheets, about 8 x 8 inches. I broke them to fit the skillet.  The Ondine brand noodles came with a recipe for vegetable lasagna, with no tomatoes, on the package.  It includes only vegetables, oil, a little cheese, and chicken broth.  The translation wasn't perfect, and I haven't tried it yet.

Ingredients
Vegetable or olive oil
1 large onion, chopped (leave out if kids hate onions)
1 pound very lean ground beef or turkey (optional)
5 to 7 cups coarsely shredded zucchini or other summer squash (remove seeds from really big squashes)
Salt to taste (about 3/4 teaspoon, less if spaghetti sauce or cheese are quite salty)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large jar (32 ounces) spaghetti sauce

3 pounds (5 1/2 or 6 cups) cottage cheese *
1/4 cup minced fresh scallions or sweet onion
3 to 5 oz. Parmesan or Romano cheese, finely grated
3/4 pound to 1 pound part-skim Mozzarella cheese, grated
No-boil lasagna noodles

Directions
Saute chopped onion in a little oil in the skillet in which you will prepare the lasagna. When onions are translucent and have begun to brown (or caramelize them if you like), add the meat, breaking it up as it cooks. When about half the pink has disappeared from the meat, add the zucchini, salt and pepper and stir into the meat. Cover and allow to cook until the meat is no longer pink and the squash starts to turn translucent .

Adding the zucchini while the meat is partially pink should result in meat which is more tender. If you want the shredded squash to retain more texture in the finished lasagna, add the spaghetti sauce as soon as you add the squash.

Reserve about 1 1/2 cups of spaghetti sauce (to spread over the bottom of the skillet) and mix the remainder into the squash mixture. Allow to simmer for a few minutes, covered. Meanwhile, mix the minced sweet onion or scallions into the cottage cheese, along with 1/2 to 2/3 of the grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

Spoon squash mixture into a large bowl. Spread reserved spaghetti sauce evenly over the bottom of the skillet. Add a little water to reduce to the consistency of common canned tomato sauce, if necessary.

Place one layer of lasagna noodles over the spaghetti sauce, breaking pieces to fit as necessary. Leave about 1/2 inch between the noodles and around the edges of the skillet.

Working quickly, spoon half of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles and spread fairly evenly. Sprinkle with about 1/4 of the Mozzarella cheese. Dot with about 1/4 of the squash mixture, and spread it over the cheese layer.

Add a second layer of noodles, perpendicular to the direction you used for the last layer (more or less - don't be too concerned about precision). Working quickly, spread the remaining cottage cheese mixture over the noodles, followed by 1/4 of the Mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of the squash mixture.

Top with another layer of noodles, according to the directions above. Dot with the remaining 1/2 of the squash mixture and spread the mixture to cover all of the noodles.

Cover tightly and simmer (you want some bubbles reaching the top, but not vigorous bubbling) for about 40 minutes, until noodles are cooked through when you test a piece. Mix the remaining Mozzarella and Parmesan or Romano cheeses and sprinkle evenly over the lasagna. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes. (If baking in the oven, do not cover after adding the last layer of cheese). Turn off heat to the skillet but leave it covered, allowing lasagna to rest for 10 minutes. Or remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Serve.

* 2-LAYER VARIATION:  I later made this recipe using 2 pounds of cottage cheese and only 2 layers of noodles, leaving the rest of the ingredients about the same.    I reserved plenty of sauce/squash mixture to go over the cottage cheese layer which topped the second layer of noodles.  It cooked faster with only 2 pounds of cottage cheese - in 25 minutes.  I still let it rest, covered, with the heat off, for 10 minutes. The time necessary to cook the noodles may vary with the brand of no-boil lasagna.

Allergy Information: We have a friend who is allergic to squash. Some people with a latex allergy have a cross-allergy to squash or to some other foods, especially certain immature fruits (like summer squash). Some varieties of Classico Spaghetti Sauce contain no corn products.

Oxhearts and Others - More Tomatoes

We're starting to get substantial numbers of tomatoes now.  Lots of Fourth of July, Early Challenge and First Lady fruits.  We've had several Cosmonaut Volkov fruits and some tomatoes which are labeled "Aunt Ginny's Purple", from a second plant which may have been a victim of the "toddler label mix-up" event. They're a tender, meaty heirloom type, but not "purple" or pink.   Lots of perfect-looking, egg-shaped Barbara fruits, too.   We hit the jackpot with several Pink Oxheart fruits today.  One is pictured below with several other varieties:

At 12 o'clock is our first little Royal Hillbilly.  The fruit of this variety is usually larger, according to the description.  Next to it going clockwise is a small Momotaro, a pink market tomato from Japan.  Then a Marianna's Peace, looking more like an oxheart than it should.  Then our first Goose Creek, a little bit over-ripe, with cracks at the stem end.  You can't see the little white speckles which are sometimes noted on this variety in the photo, but they're there.  Next to Goose Creek are three dusky Nyagous, slightly darker in hue than the big, boat-shaped JD's Special-C Tex   in the center of the platter. The green on the shoulders is characteristic of many of the "purple" or  "black" tomatoes when ripe.  Two of the Nyagous fruits are likely over-ripe.

At six o'clock are two Moskvich fruits, then one of the Oxheart Pink fruits.  The ones I picked today were variable is size and shape.  Not all of them looked this much like a heart.  The comes a Ponderosa Pink with some green on the shoulder and a little cracking, and finally a big double heart - Anna Russian.  There was also a HUGE double Anna Maria's heart that got stuck in the fencing where two layers overlapped.  The second time for this variety.  We'll have to find a better one to photograph.

We're still getting a lot of squash, too.  And a lot of squash bugs.  I had to pull up two plants of Saffron Prolific crookneck this week due to disease.  Zucchini plants generally last longer than crooknecks and straightnecks in our yard.  And some of F's volunteers.   Our 107 degree day was hard on the beans.  Haven't had any edible ones since.  Still getting a few Summer Dance cucumbers.

First Plums and Pluots

Below is a plate showing, at the top, the superlative Flavor Supreme Pluot, the classic Santa Rosa Plum on the left and Weeping Santa Rosa at the bottom.  There is a whole and a cut fruit if each variety .  These were picked last week, just as our apricots were finishing up.

Flavor Supreme has lots of sweetness, similar in this way to a typical European plum, but with sprightliness and complex flavor characteristic of an Asian plum.  It has a little apricot in its background, along with Santa Rosa and Mariposa plums, which are common in the parent lines of new varieties of plums and Pluots.  It tastes best when it first starts to soften, while the skin is still mostly green.  It has a bit of crispness at this point.  Eventually, the flesh will turn a deep maroon, but by then much of the complex flavor will be gone.   My experience this year has been that the fruit can develop a slightly "cooked" or oxidized flavor if it ripens when the temperature gets to 107 degrees.  Fruits which ripened after the high heat (daytime highs of about 92 to 99 degrees) were far better.  The same was true for the plums below.

Flavor Supreme grows on a vigorous tree with big leaves, but its blossoms are not very attractive to bees.  It's a good idea to graft in some early-blooming pollenizers, like the old California commercial plum, Inca, or one of the other early-blooming Pluots.  Or, you can plant your pollenizers very close to the Flavor Supreme, or bring over some vases full of blooming branches to place in the tree.  Right now, the tree is afflicted with spider mites, and as soon as all the fruit are picked, it's going to be pruned and blasted with a jet of water in the mornings.  I've already started spraying the tree with water, trying to avoid the fruit as much as possible.

This year,  the fruit is ripening with Santa Rosa, indicating that rain prevented setting of the earliest blooms.  As with our apricots.   Normally, Flavor Supreme starts to ripen well before Santa Rosa.

Santa Rosa is the classic California Asian plum, introduced by the legendary breeder Luther Burbank.  It is tart at the pit and astringent under the skin, with a sweet layer in between which has a lushly complex flavor.  It tastes a bit "wild".  It is not sweet or firm enough for some modern tastes, but this is a fruit that lets you know you're alive when you eat it.   A Santa Rosa at its peak is, in my opinion, a wonderful thing.  Some people peel it before eating.   Like Flavor Supreme, it loses flavor if over-ripe.  It makes very flavorful jams and jellies.  Leave the skins on.

The blossoms are self-pollenizing, and this tree is the classic pollenizer for Asian plums and Pluots which need cross-pollination.  It has a wide climate adaptability.  The tree is vigorous and easy to care for.  Perhaps too vigorous for some people.  Summer pruning is key to controlling its size.  If compatible with your soil, you could also consider planting it on a dwarfing rootstock (the same is true of Flavor Supreme, another vigorous tree).

Weeping Santa Rosa is a Floyd Zaiger development, like Flavor Supreme Pluot.  It's one of his earlier releases, now off patent.  The fruits grow on a tree with a weeping habit.  It is a little sweeter that Santa Rosa (wins taste tests) and ripens slightly later than Santa Rosa.  It can be picked when a little firmer and still have great flavor.

Below is our plate of fruit under the Weeping Santa Rosa tree by our front walk.  You can see a couple of fruits hanging from the tree next to the daylily blossom.   The cut fruit in the photo above is slightly under-ripe.  At perfection, the flesh will have a slight rosy blush, a little less than the photo of the Santa Rosa fruit on the left.

Like Santa Rosa, its blossoms are self-pollenizing and can pollenize other varieties.  The tree is often grafted onto dwarfing rootstock for ornamental use, but you can also prune it to the shape you like.  It has a wider climate adaptability than Flavor Supreme, but probably not as wide as Santa Rosa.  The little flower underneath is a cross between a Martha Washington geranium (well, pelargonium) and a scented species.  It survives in our climate better than the true Martha Washington types.  But the bloom you see lost a petal during the photo session, and it may be our last for the year.

Olives and Virgin Olive Oil May Reduce Inflammation

In a controlled study, high-phenolic (i.e., virgin) olive oil modified expression of genes involved in inflammation. Some of the affected genes are linked to obesity. Olives may be even more helpful. See comments.