Canning Salsa

Wow, today sure has been a busy one! I have been picking ripe or near ripe tomatos all week, along with some red, yellow and green peppers and loads of cucumbers. And, I do mean LOADS! (Does anyone have any good cucumber recipes or ideas of what or how to preserve them? I am running out of ideas)

 Anyway, I decided after looking at the garden and what was already inside on the counter and in baskets, I thought today would be the day to get started on putting some of the bounty of the garden up for winter since it wasn't as hot as it has been lately, but let me tell you, with the stove on all evening it heated up the living room and kitchen just as bad. I am so glad we have a pool now that we can go get into whenever we want or need to!

So eartly this afternoon my grandgirls and my son helped me gather the rest of the ripe veggies from the garden. (We brought in 4 filled, heavy plastic bags, like the ones you get at some stores.). Then I made a quick run to the store to get some onions and garlic along with some jalapeño peppers so some of the salsa will be spicy.

With help and encouragement from the 2 year old I stood at the counter and chopped, diced and sweat my way through about 4 hours, prepping the veggies for processing. I am sure glad I am through with that. Most days I don’t mind chopping veggies myself, but when I start canning sometimes I wish I had a good food processor to help. My fingers are sore and the one that guides the knife feels almost blistered! Ouch!

So anyway here is the recipe for the salsa I decided on this year, most of the veggies fresh from the garden:

My 2011 Salsa mix for canning:

20 cups diced home-grown red and yellow tomatos

2 cups each diced, red, green, yellow and orange peppers

2 cups diced celery

2 cups of diced onion

1 head of garlic crushed and diced

2 cups diced seeded and peeled cucumbers (because they are getting put into most everything since there are so many!)

jalapeños as desired (I make two batches out of this and the second smaller one is the one I put the jalapeños in)

I dip my tomato’s into boiling water for a couple of min and then peel, because it just pulls right off when hot. Then dice into small bits and toss skins and seeds.(warning: it is very messy and very hot work,  but very worth it in the end)

Dice all the other vegetables

Add everything to 2 large pots unless you have a gigantic one, salt, pepper and cumin, oh and 1 can of tomato paste if you wish to thicken it up a little, then bring to a boil for a few minutes and remove from heat,

Put mix into sterilized jars, leave about ½ head space, then wipe tops of jars clean and place seal onto jar with ring, just barely tighten ring

Place jars into canner rack and process in boiling water for 20 minutes. Then let the jars cool on towel away from drafts that could cause bottles to crack

Let sit until room temp. then check the lids for seal, mark remove ring and store

 

Note: I use this not just for a good salsa, but as a started for chili, soup, spaghetti sauce, enchiladas, and so on. It adds a flavor that you just can’t get in a can from the store!!

I’ll tell you what, as I sit here thinking about all those cukes out in the kitchen I am really perplexed as what to do with them. they aren’t pickling cukes so that is out, I have made plenty of my kimchi and lots of cucumber and onions but I am out of ideas  on what to do with the rest besides load up the neighbors!!

So blog friends, I will really try to post more often, forgive me for being so lax, however it has been a good year for the garden and between that and keeping my son educated. (I guess the new term for the way he learns is unschooled!) I also must find ways to keep him occupied along with training a puppy and watching the grandgirls (of course that ain’t really work, I love having them over on the weekends) I guess my days are pretty full and some days I don’t even get a chance to read let alone post. I am going to try to get a little caught up on reading tonight after this post if my eyes don’t slam shut on me. J

Until next time, Deb~

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Hello readers! I hope your day is as beautiful as mine. We here in the Ohio Valley have been suffering along with millions of others the past few days with very hot temperatures and really high humidity to go alone with it. UGH!

Although while I am toasty warm in my home on a frigid winters night wishing for summer to come early, I think that is what I want, here we are in the more than toasty summer time and I am hoping for a cool-down.

Not that I want it to snow or anything, that would not be good. I would just like temps like we have today... (80) along with low humidity and a sunny breeze....all. year. long.

How's that for todays rant? haha, really I am enjoying the beautiful day we have today. It's not as hot and the humidity is a lil lower so I am much more comfortable. So on to other news.

In the garden yesterday I picked a huge bowl (the one I make cookie dough in) full of green beans! (when I took the pictures I just took pics of the tops of the plant, silly me, when I looked under the leaves I found gads of beans just waiting to be found and harvested.) I also found 6 nice sized cucumbers to go alone with the beans.

First harvest! YuMmY! I put the beans (after snapping the ends off and breaking them in two) into my crock pot along with about 1/2 lb. bacon, and a little water and set it on low, put the lid on and walked away for about 4 hours. Then when it started to smell really good I cut up some med. red taters into chunks and peeled and cut a good sized turnip and placed them in with the beans, of course I had to taste test them and they were wonderful, not quite done yet but very good! I let the whole mess cook for another couple of hours and wow! I have not had green beans that good in a long time! (truth be told probably not since my last garden).

I know that food is best just after being picked, even meat is best just after it is processed, and I don't mean by a commercial processor either. I love the taste of fresh fruits and veggies. I used to drive a truck pulling a refriderated trailer (reefer) cross country with produce and I loved to buy cases direct from the farmer, because they tasted and looked sooo much better than what I could get at my grocery. I know first hand how long it takes to get foods grown in California to the east coast, and how long they sit at the distribution center, how long they travel to the local grocery and then how long they sit there before being bought! If you figure up all the transit time and sitting time for produce it is no wonder people have forgotten what "real" food tastes like. The grower in California is only worried about growing modified foods that will travel and sit well so they arrive at the grocery where you shop looking like they came from the farm but having not worried at all about the taste, that has been modified right out of it!

I also made my own twisted version of cucumber kimchi by stripping some of the peel off of the cucumbers (they look striped when I am done) cutting off the ends, then dicing them into moderate sized chunks and stuffing them all into an old, washed and dried pickle jar, leaving just a small amount of room at the top to add a few more things.

 Then I cut up some green onion and toss them into the jar as well, add some roasted garlic and a dash of sugar and red pepper flakes to taste, then pour in about 1/4 cup of soy sauce. Place the lid tightly on the jar and shake it to stir the contents well. Place it into the fridge and try to leave it alone for a couple of days.

When it is ready the contents will have shrunk and your jar will only be about 2/3 full, but the flavor is out of this world. Crunchy, yet soft and a lil spicy. It is the ONLY spicy food I can eat. I have Crohns and most spicy food is not allowed because of what it does to me. For some reason the kimchi doesn't bother me and for that I am greatful.

I also am making a cucumber, onion and tomato salad for dinner tonight, sadly although I have gads of tomato's growing none of mine are ripe yet so the tomatos will have to come  from the farmers market, not my garden.

Other than taking care of the garden, and of course the house, not much is happening around here other than enjoying the day and trying to stay cool. I hope those of you still suffering in the blistering heat will catch a break soon, and everyone else I hope you're enjoying your day wherever you are!


Until next time,
 Deb~