​

Some links in this email are affiliate links- if you click through and purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.*

Hi Reader,

Well, hot August made it's appearance in Western Oregon! We had three days of 100 degrees last week and my potted plants suffered for sure. Also yellowing bean and blueberry leaves and dead black-eyed susan plants.

But surprisingly most things were okay with regular watering - thanks to my brother, since we were at the coast (great timing or what? 😀).

I came back to a TON of ripe tomatoes:

So you know what I'll be doing this next week! I've also got some peppers and beans to pickle, but my main focus will be these tomatoes.

TIP: There were quite a few overripe tomatoes, probably from the heat, and I knew they wouldn't even last another day. So I weighed them, cored them and stuck them in a freezer baggie to freeze and use for sauce later! It ended up being 5 pounds and I would've been very sad to lose them and I didn't have time to cook them. Perfect solution!

In honor of tomatoes - here are some of my go-to recipes and preserving recipes to use 'em up (or go here to see ALL my tomato recipes):

​

Tomato Recipes

• ​Authentic Greek Salad Tips & Recipe​
• ​Quick Summer Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Green Beans​
• ​Green Beans with Caramelized Onions & Tomatoes​
• ​Zucchini, Corn, and Tomato Sauté with Feta (a favorite summertime side!)
• ​Garden Fresh Salsa Cruda & Pico de Gallo Recipe (of course - bring on the tacos!)
• ​Heirloom Tomatoes and Feta Salad (a 5-minute recipe) (always and forever...)

​

Tomato Preserving Recipes

• ​Easiest Ways To Freeze Tomatoes (No Blanching)​
• ​How to Dry Tomatoes And Store In Olive Oil​
• ​Canning Diced Tomatoes – Easy Fire Roasted Water Bath Method​
• ​Best Thick Canned Salsa Recipe with Step-by-Step Tutorial (making this weekend!)
• ​Safe Water Bath Canned Roasted Tomato Sauce (also this weekend) OR this amazing roasted tomato sauce for the freezer (it has lots more low-acid ingredients so not okay to can)
• I'll also hopefully get some Rotel canned as well as a batch of addictive tomato chutney since we can't run out of that, but they will probably have to wait for next week.

​

In My Kitchen

In thinking about what I use in my kitchen most for preserving tomatoes and other things (besides canning equipment and my trusty hand-held blender), I realized I've only ever used 2 sizes of stockpots that work for both smaller batches and larger batches and boiling: a 6-quart and a 12-quart. I think I bought a 16-quart once but got rid of it when we moved because I just didn't use it, these two cover most everything!

• ​6-quart stainless pot with solid lid (this is similar to what I've had for YEARS - I see the case for a glass lid, but always think about breakage which hasn't happened to me but you never know...)
• Here's a similar stainless pot with a glass lid, though.
• ​12-quart stainless pot with a glass lid (I do have a glass lid for this and appreciate it to be able to see when things are boiling).

​

From The Blog

​The 2026 Calendar is Ready!​ I kept the floral theme from last year, changing up a few months' backgrounds AND I created an August 2025 to July 2026 Academic Calendar, too! Fill out the form and it will come straight to your inbox! ​ GRAB EITHER HERE IN THE RESOURCE LIBRARY! ​

From the archives: Prune & Deadhead in August for Fall Color​ I used to give up when the flowers faded, until I realized I could get months more blooms from most plants if I gave them a cut! ​ READ IT HERE! ​

A Few More Things

• I bought this downloadable pattern from Etsy last week because I loved the shape and colors of the crochet Christmas trees. It's shown as a garland, which would be cute, but I plan on making them for ornaments to give to family and friends (I crocheted sweaters last year and it was so fun). Aren't they adorable?
• Brian told me this week that there was yet another study on how many microplastics are released into our water, this time from sponges we use to scrub dishes. I reminded him that we've only used the walnut scrubber sponges from Grove for years. They are a little more expensive, but guess what I do? I cut them in half! I think half sponges are easier to use and fit on my sink board better, plus the $ saving, of course. How about you - have you ever done this?

​

Here's to a wonderful week! Remember to hit reply with anything you'd like to share, I enjoy hearing from you!

PS- Remember to tag me on Instagram so I can see what you're making!

Remember it's easy to save recipes on An Oregon Cottage! Just click the heart when browsing to save your personal favorites! TIP: when you click on the link, it will take you to my site - click the heart like you see here to the left - it will be on the bottom right on the site. A pop up form will come up for you to create an account (or sign in if you already have). You need to create a password for this account (no info is kept besides your email) and then you can save all recipes and articles to this account and access it anytime to remember what you want and choose what to make!

​

*You can read An Oregon Cottage's full disclosure policy here.

Do you love these emails? To get an email whenever I post a new recipe or article, click here.