Pico de Gallo

November 4.

The tomatoes I had picked a few weeks ago were all ripening, and Joseph was happily incorporating them into his lunches every day.  There was a mountain of them, though, and I knew I had to do something with them as they slowly started getting really ripe.  Time for pico de gallo, which is basically a fresh salsa.

Amazingly (according to my friends), I don't use a recipe for this.  Many people also drain off the liquid from the salsa, but I leave it in.  You pretty much can drink the remaining bit of salsa down when you get to the bottom of the bowl.  Yum!

I also have a pretty new pottery bowl to put my pico de gallo in--I purchased this hand-made bowl at our local farmers market this past summer.

I love all things blue!  But you probably figured that out already.

Pico de Gallo

tomatoes
onion
green pepper (optional, your taste!)
jalapenos
cilantro
garlic
white vinegar
salt

Chop the tomatoes, onion, green pepper, jalapenos, and garlic as coarsely/finely as you wish.  Chop the cilantro and add it in,  Pour in a splash of white vinegar, and salt to taste.

I really can't give you ingredient amounts, but they are listed in order of amount.  If you have, say, four or five tomatoes, use 1/4 of an onion, one small green pepper, one jalapeno (or whatever, depending on your affinity for heat!).  Then go from there--half a bunch of cilantro, a splash of white vinegar, maybe 1/2 teaspoon of salt (better start with 1/4).  Just keep tasting/testing along the way.  That's how I do it!


Back to life,
Christine

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Summer Canning Projects

Here are a few pictures of my canning projects this summer.

Pickled jalapeños.

It's so nice when my dearest cleans the kitchen for me after a long afternoon of canning!

Here's what's left on my counter.

So I made and canned some spaghetti sauce.  Now here's what was left.

I used everything from my garden to make salsa, at Fernando's request:  tomatoes, jalapeños, purple onion, green peppers, garlic, oregano, basil, and whatever else I'm forgetting at the moment!

I finally cleared my countertop of most of the tomatoes.  Now they're in jars in various recipes, and stored in my bomb shelter.  It's a really nice feeling to have my garden produce put up for the coming months.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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Used Up

"There is rhythm to being a farm girl.

It is the rhythm of working hard when there is work to be done.

It is the rhythm of finding joy in the "doing" of the work.

It is also the rhythm of slowing down to enjoy each moment."

Rene Groom

Be sure to visit Lori's blog to see what Friday Farm Girls is all about!

This morning we're getting ready to go to Wisconsin with Lori and her family to get our Christmas tree!  Everyone's running around, cleaning up from breakfast, taking showers, making sandwiches, and preparing for our fun day with friends.  Meanwhile, my Friday Farm Girls @ Heart post...

There always seems to be stuff left over.  No, not leftovers, as in dinner, though we have lots to eat from yesterday's Thanksgiving meal.  Meal leftovers doesn't usually doesn't happen much in our family.  No, I'm talking about leftovers as in one last bowl of ripening tomatoes on the counter, or a small pile of apples in the basement "bomb shelter" from our apple-picking trip.

What to do with that stuff?  Make stuff!

The last of my garden tomatoes were getting a little wrinkly as they reddened, though there was nothing else wrong with them.  I made eight cups of pico de gallo, which we ate throughout the week.

And the Northern Spy apples were starting to brown in spots.  Two of them had rotted through and we threw them out.  So I made a quick batch of applesauce.

You'll have to trust me that the applesauce was delicious, because I didn't take a picture of it and we ate it all.  Northern Spy apples are great for applesauce.  (But, they're a pain to peel.)

I'll post about Thanksgiving soon--right now I have to finish my tea and get things ready for our drive to Wisconsin!!  Blessings to you all, dear friends and readers.

Back to life,
Christine

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Tomato Time

It's a day of tomatoes.  Besides picking three bowls of them, we just finished skinning and chopping 10 quarts.  I know it's not a fantastic amount, but to have any amount is just fine with me.  And the tomatoes are one of the few veggies that are proliferating in my garden.

So, I'm taking a break and going to the store to get some onions and a few green peppers, neither of which are doing much in my garden.  Salsa-making, and hopefully canning, await us this afternoon.

Back to life,
Christine
who is thanking the Lord for helpful teenage sons  :)