What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

I love their pizza sauce, it's my families favorite.

Us too. I currently have 20 cans in the freeze dryer. Another 20 cans in the wings. I'll eventually figure out how to make a duplicate of it.

I also prefer their stewed tomatoes over other brands- but they're hard to find here to start with. But I'll put those up too and just powder them for adding to sauce by the tablespoon full.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

Us too. I currently have 20 cans in the freeze dryer. Another 20 cans in the wings. I'll eventually figure out how to make a duplicate of it.

I don’t think I buy theirs specifically (I always doctor up a base sauce so the base itself matters less) but I was planning to try making pizza sauce from scratch at some point this summer and would be interested in following along with your experiments.

 

[WthrLady]

I don’t think I buy theirs specifically (I always doctor up a base sauce so the base itself matters less) but I was planning to try making pizza sauce from scratch at some point this summer and would be interested in following along with your experiments.

I used to make my own, but switched over to easier that tastes close to mine.
It's not hard, but I'm already grinding wheat for flour to make DHs crust. And also making my no flour keto crust and grating all the cheese and grinding the pepperoni. Pizza night USED to be quick and easy and now is almost a PIA some weeks.

It's our date night once a week, so I still do it, but ARGH.
It's an easy sauce, just tomato sauce base, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, garlic, onion some tomato paste and powdered carrot. (They add sugar, I don't.)

Next time I make from scratch, I'll write it down for you.

 

[jerryse]

On the subject of tomato / pizza sauce we like Rao's. Costs more but really good IMO.

 

[Molpet]

On the subject of tomato / pizza sauce we like Rao's. Costs more but really good IMO.

Yes that's what I buy. The ingredients read like a recipe I would make.
American test kitchen rated it as best.
It's made in Italy though

 

[dirkandlorie]

AND CLICK AT YOU. I draw the line when they flail and click at me. EW.
======
Put down my last red sex link. A breed I'll never bring home again. What a horribly over bred, trainwreck of a breed. Illness is rampant and they only make it to 3 or 4 years old before some horrific illness takes over. No exception here. Something horrible going on with her digestion and back end, sluggish, swollen, red and she was hiding. Nope, Done.
NO MORE PRODUCTION breeds.
======
Ragweed is winning and tomatoes need tied up. Weather is weird for here and tomatoes are out there, but not in huge numbers. Pollination has been tricky this year.
Grapes out the ying yang-but I don't net those, so results later may vary.
I'm not really into the garden this year for whatever reason. Overwhelmed by other stuff I guess.
Tore a huge hole in my other hand last night folding the step ladder. I swear and swore. I'm walking swiss cheese.

OH and for anyone that hasn't heard, Del Monte just declared bankruptcy and are looking at a restructuring/sale. SO this includes all branded delMonte products-fruit cups and sauces, but also Contadina sauces/pastes/tomato products, and College Inn broths. They blame people's change in eating habits. WTH? Really ? Basic sauce and soup ingredients? Not some flash in a pan trending food item. ARGH.

So a few of my favorites are in that, so in case of them folding altogether or restructuring and changing product, I'm freeze drying stuff. I swear.

doesn't help you at all at this point, but the youngest any of my black or gold sex links died was 9 1/2 years old. 3 generations of them same story. Not enough data to prove it, but I swear they need more protein than any other breed I've kept.
Thanks for the tip on DelMonte products.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

I used to make my own, but switched over to easier that tastes close to mine.
It's not hard, but I'm already grinding wheat for flour to make DHs crust. And also making my no flour keto crust and grating all the cheese and grinding the pepperoni. Pizza night USED to be quick and easy and now is almost a PIA some weeks.

It's our date night once a week, so I still do it, but ARGH.
It's an easy sauce, just tomato sauce base, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, garlic, onion some tomato paste and powdered carrot. (They add sugar, I don't.)

Next time I make from scratch, I'll write it down for you.

Sounds like I need to take extra good care of my thyme plant then. Thank you!

 

[Smokerbill]

I always though Del Monte made the best ketchup but I never bought much of it. I stuck to cheaper store brands so I'm part of the problem. LOL

He said that the company has “faced challenges intensified by a dynamic macroeconomic environment,” notably consumers cutting back on their spending and a growing shift toward spending on private labels.

Del Monte “says that consumer demand has declined, causing it to incur increased costs related to surplus inventory that it has had to warehouse and attempt to move off shelves with increased promotional spending,” according to Sarah Foss, global head of legal and restructuring at Debtwire. “Consumer preferences have shifted away from preservative-laden canned food in favor of healthier alternatives.”

https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/02/food/del-monte-foods-bankruptcy

 

[pennyJo1960]

Vertigo has hit me hard.
I will try Rao's tomato seen it at Costco so will try it.
Not doing canning this year either.

 

[WthrLady]

On the subject of tomato / pizza sauce we like Rao's. Costs more but really good IMO.

Not readily available here. I found it once in the city. It was good.