The Day After Tomorrow – Basic Tomato Sauce

Isn’t it wonderful when city leaders actually care about citizens? I’d say rather lovely. And all that excessive talk about “going green”, and “new technologies”, and “thoughtful consumption”, and “help 3^rd world countries” – it is always bound to end up in some sort of construction in the neighborhood. It was just the same this time. What’s even more fun is to guess what’s gonna happen next. This time wasn’t that extraordinary – right after “optimization” was finished some minor detail turned to be lousy, and here I am, stuck at home with no heating whatsoever.

Since freezing to death does not sound like much fun, I’ve decided to make a lemonade out of this frozen lemon. Well, lemon-flavored slush under given circumstances. Getting lots of blankets and watching “The Day After Tomorrow” sounded like a nice idea – you don’t get to experience 4D movies that often, 4^th dimension being senses. Here I need to give a special thanks to my cat that jumped into my lap and bit my fingers really badly right at the moment when wolves attacked that poor lad on a ship.

But that was all yesterday, let’s get back to present. As I’ve learned yesterday – self-sustainability matters. If not sustainability – than at least the ability to use your hands effectively. There is the neighbor of mine, other from the one you already know – not vecchietta biascicapaternostri, he makes amazing exotic souvenirs. Such a shame he’s rumored to be smuggling drugs in them. There was the other genius craftsman in our block; everyone was literally stunned by his metal designs – turned out to be a serial killer. (I wonder, will the property prices ever rise in our neighborhood?... ) I’ll even tell you that I’ve known people who knew people who heard about people who made homemade explosives. Now that’s serious. What’s fun – we even teach kids that “the best present is the present you made yourself!”. But when it comes down to business what do we do? Right, we buy such an elementary thing as marinara sauce in the supermarket. Now I wonder why does the world as we know it seem to be losing its’ balance. Since I truly believe that the mankind deserves the chance of survival, let’s see if it is too difficult to make that tomato sauce at home.

Basic Tomato Sauce

You will need:

1 cup                     Tomato paste

¾ cup                    Water

                             Dried Italian herbs

                             Paprika

                             Allspice

                             Salt

Note: the amount of spices was not provided on purpose, you may vary it depending on your preferences, as well as using any other spices you find appropriate.

Method:

1. In a saucepan combine tomato paste and water. Stir well until you get homogeneous mass.

2. Start heating up the mixture over medium heat.

3. When the mass is close to boiling add salt and spices. Stir well.

4. When the sauce starts boiling reduce heat and boil stirring constantly for 4 minutes.

5. Basic tomato sauce is ready to be used. Bon appétit!

Note: You may vary the consistency of the sauce depending on your needs and preferences by changing the amount of water. I typically make sauce thinner when using for pasta so that it evenly coats every piece, and make it thicker when using as a dipping sauce.

Keep yourself warm, my dears, and watch your neighbors’ habits. Who knows, maybe there is someone who might help you when the disaster strikes.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs Lovett