Sunday, August 15, 2010

Breezing through summer...


  Here are the first 11 jars of homemade salsa...turned out beautifully.  Fresh tomatoes, jalapenos, bell peppers, onions, garlic, cilantro--all from the garden. A bit of cumin seed and sea salt, and VOILA!  I will make one more batch before it's all done. That should get us through the winter, I hope.  It was a little labor intensive. For some reason, I didn't get out the food processor, simply loved the morning of peeling and chopping and cooking it until it was ready to can and go into the water bath canner.  I'm pretty happy with the results.


  The jalapenos were hotter than hell. I took a small bite to check and (without seeds) it nearly burned the skin off my tongue !!  (NOTE:  I love hot peppers and eat them all the time)  So, I put a minimal amount into the mix, and saved the rest for two jars that are marked HOT.  Someone in my life will talk about how things are never hot enough for them, and I will award them a jar of 5 alarm barnburning salsa. Then we'll see what they think. LOL


  The peppers are still coming like crazy, and I have already frozen 20 quarts of slices.  I am going to stuff and freeze some, with perhaps a wild rice mixture, or maybe a sausage and vegetable...I don't know. Any suggestions??


  I have canned tons of tomatoes and dried more. I have dried onions and Romas and fruits and okra. I have also frozen a lot of okra, and it is now producing enough fast enough that I will be pickling some young pods any minute now. I also have about 25 pounds of garlic that I am going to dehydrate some and pickle some whole cloves. It is winding down though, and I may not get much more green beans to can...maybe a few for some lovely dinner dishes...


  I have not been making it to many meetings..once a week, sometimes. I am working 4 hours every day of the week. And with the canning and all, I am running out of daylight. I know th9s is temporary...and then I will get back on  schedule.


  Alright. Time to post a few pics and then head out to the garden. I have one last load of laundry in the dryer to fold and then that is done for the day. I got bread made yesterday and some of the canned goods put away. I am going to have to enlist the help of my renter and get my pantries cleaned out and straightened up.  Maybe later this week, we can get that done.  Maybe....*grin.


  Here are a few pictures of the bounty...some may have been posted before, I can't think...




  Namaste.

5 comments:

Hope said...

I thought of you yesterday when I was in my garden picking green beans for supper.

Akannie said...

It's a blessing, isn't it, Hope?? We are eating really well this summer !!

One Prayer Girl said...

Sounds like you have enough prepared and preserved to eat all summer, all winter, all summer, all winter..... :)

PG

Unknown said...

I have been preparing beans and such for the winter and not canning though as I really don't have a lot of the tools necessary but am thinking about taking a class at the local university to learn how to in small space and gardens!

You sound as busy as I've been this month too, for different reasons but still busy!

I hope you are doing well and miss you!!

xoxo G

Jess Mistress of Mischief said...

Your blog continues to make my salivary glands stand up and take notice and I'm rumbly in my tumbly :)