Macaroni and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 Medium Onion
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil/ or Bacon Fat
1 28oz. Can of Whole Stewed Tomatoes
1 15oz. Can of Tomato Sauce
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of Light Brown Sugar firmly packed
2-3 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tbsp. Molasses
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Ground Black Pepper
Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
3/4 Pound Elbow Macaroni
2 Tbsp salt for Pasta water

Take a medium Green Bell Pepper and a Medium onion and chop.

Add chopped onion and pepper to a pot with oil or bacon fat over medium to low heat cook about five minutes strirring occasionally until onions become translucent.

Add ingredients. Starting with the tomato sauce first. Then add the whole tomatoes crushing the tomatoes by hand as you add them to the pot. Add sugar,salt, pepper,crushed red pepper, molasses, and cider vinegar. Bring to a  low simmer while you prepare the macaroni. (Pictured here is a an optional small can of tomato sauce. I did not use it.)

This is a good time to taste. It should be sweet and have a slight vinegar finish.

 
 Bring approximately 4 Quarts of water to a boil.   

Pictured here is about a pound of elbow macaroni. I recommend using a little less than this about 3/4 pound. Add Salt to boiling water, Then add Macaroni. Boil for about 6 minutes over high to medium high heat until macaroni is al' dente. ( The macaroni needs to have a little chew to it)

Drain water from macaroni and stir into your pot.

Turn down heat to a low simmer. Serve and enjoy!

Seeing Beyond Ordinary

I love the light this time of the year. Looking out to see a thin blanket of snow on the ground that reveals the subtle details of the ground below is like magic. The snow that lay on the ground had fallen a couple of days earlier and was fine like powder.

2012 Landscape

Back in November, while driving around on stretch of road I rarely travel, I noticed an image of a rural landscape I needed to capture.  For the last couple of months have been stopping by there to try to recapture what I had missed. I have returned there several times checking it out. Yesterday, I went there with some success.  Today, I returned and while it is not exactly what I wanted it's close. The snow in the cut cornfield is an important element in this image for me. As is the power line. I have spent a lot of time over the years trying to exclude power lines from my images for aesthetic purposes but here it works.  The field was disc ed up at the end of the season making it a rough surface and it shows.  I will return again in the spring when the melting snow just exposes the ground and glistens in the sun.