Sept. 21, 2026 - THE HARVEST IS UPON US
The fruits of the garden
The shriveled mess
The instrument of torture
On Friday, we had a small gathering to scatter the ashes of my father-in-law Henry Schnepf who departed this world last year. He joined all the others who are resting up on the hill underneath the branches of a large pin oak.
on the storefront, some very "chubby" things have been happening lately
THE HARVEST IS UPON US
September 21, 2026
Dear Friends,
As we age, sometimes the simplest of actions can result in an injury that can be very painful. Actions that we once took for granted, on an everyday basis, can often present a new challenge. So it was this week, when I decided to process the baskets of tomatoes we had harvested from our garden. The whole process took most of the day on Tuesday and the sauce came out absolutely fantastic with my new method, but it wasn’t until two days later, that I realized I had overdone it. I am now paying the penalty. I can hardly raise my right arm and I’ve probably done something to the joint in my shoulder. I’m not going to bother my doctor about it because I know that it’s just going take time to heal. As always, Julie has taken excellent care of me and I’m trying to be a very good patient. But on to the sauce…
Now in the past, I have always used my mother‘s recipe for homemade tomato sauce, but this was something special. This was from the garden to the table. There was nothing processed about it. My new method for making sauce involves cleaning and preparing all the various types of tomatoes and putting them on large metal baking pans. I then adorn them with bits of garlic, onion, Trapanese sea salt, pepper, parsley and basil. Then l doused everything with extra virgin olive oil and baked the entire mess for 45 minutes in a preheated oven. After it all was cool enough to handle, I processed everything by hand using a food mill…. and that is the instrument of torture that messed up my shoulder. That said, the sauce is unbelievably good. I cooked it for about six hours and then bottled it all up to save for the winter. But I think I’ll save some to serve to my guests from the Netherlands were arriving on Thursday. We are so excited to see Howard and Annemies LaBrie.
Anyway. You cannot allow illness, affliction, or social problems define who you are or the direction of your life. There are many other things that can define the direction such as your interest and pursuits. That is my mantra and that is how I intend to live the years that I have left…..
With peace,
John Bernunzio.
Who knows what flowers these are?