One of the simple joys of raising a garden is harvesting those first vegetables. Today JEJ gathered carrots, beets, and cabbage. I believe coleslaw tastes just a bit better when the carrots and cabbage are home grown. The beet is in a category all by itself. It looks beautiful as it is picked. It's red dye fills the pan with gorgeous color and the savory aroma of cooking beets just smells like late summer. What a garden feast we experienced! We topped our dinner off with something we brought back from our trip. I found a Hermiston Yellow Seedless watermelon. When I saw the wedges on a plate to sample at the produce place, I thought it was pineapple. I think it tastes close to other colors of watermelon, but is such a beautiful color when sliced.
Now.... off to check those zucchini recipes for using the four that came out of the patch today!
10. There are leaves around the yard that have started to turn. 9. It is time to start setting the alarm clock in preparation for a school schedule.8. The oak leaf hydrangea blooms are beginning to turn a deeper color. 7. The temperature is dropping in the evening.6. The beans have reached the top of the pole. 5. I am running out of canning jars.4. The leaves on the Virginia Creeper are up to the roof of the shed, which is Lily's favorite resting spot. 3. I feel this urge to wear fleece, heavy socks, and jumpers.2. The sunflower seeds are ready for the birds. 1. The number one way I can tell autumn is just around the corner... I have a zucchini that weighs 4 pounds!
Today we squeezed, skinned, quartered, and sliced the 60 pounds of tomatoes JEJ harvested yesterday. The first project of the day was to make salsa. With all the chopping and mincing that is involved it certainly is a two person job. JEJ was a great partner in the kitchen as we put up sixteen pints of my Zesty Salsa.
The next project of the day was to make Seasoned Tomato Sauce. This requires a bit more time than I realized. After the squeezing and quartering, there is cooking, then milling, then cooking more. After that the sauce goes into the hot water bath for thirty minutes. We just took out the last batch and now have fifteen pints of the sauce that filled the kitchen with savory aromas all afternoon and evening. Here are the two recipes I used today. Both were adapted from recipes in Ball Blue Book : Guide to Home Canning.
Christy’s Zesty Salsa
10 cups tomatoes (seeded, cored, chopped in food processor)
(About 6 pounds)
5 cups chopped and seeded green peppers
2 ½cups chopped hot peppers ( Anaheim and jalapeno are mild,
poblanos and serranors are hot…….add a few seeds to make it hotter.
I mix these types……..usually Anaheim and jalapeno.)
5 cups chopped onions
10 cloves garlic,minced
2 TB fresh cilantro, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
1 cup cider vinegar
½ cup lime juice
Combine all the ingredients in a large pot. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 min. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving ¼ “ headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: about 6 -8 pints
Tip: If my tomatoes are watery I strain the mixture to keep the salsa from being watery/soupy!
Seasoned Tomato Sauce
25 pounds tomatoes
3 cups chopped onions
10 cloves garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TB oregano
1 TB Italian Seasoning
6 bay leaves
2 TB salt
1 TB pepper
1 1/2 TB sugar
2 tsp. crushed red pepper ( optional)
Wash tomatoes, drain. Remove core and blossom ends. Cut into quarters, set aside. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil in a large saucepan. Add tomatoes, spices, and sugar. Add red pepper if desired. Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the bay leaves. Press mixture through a sieve or food ill; discard seeds and peels.
( At this point I used the food processor and left in the skins and seeds.) Cook pulp in a large, uncovered pot over medium-high heat until sauce thickens, stirring to prevent sticking. Reduce volume by one-half for a thick sauce. Again, for me if it is watery I cook it down more or strain it to get rid of some of the liquid. Add 2 TBs bottled lemon juice to each quart or 1 TB bottled lemon juice for each pint of sauce. Ladle sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4 " headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 35 minutes, quarts 40 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: About 14 pints or 7 quarts.
Tip: I don't have a pot big enough for this batch. I had to use three different pans, but then mixed them as the sauce cooked down.
The gifts from the garden were here to greet us when we returned home. Tomorrow will be salsa and tomato sauce canning day at our house as we use up at least sixty pounds of ripe tomatoes we found ripened on the vine yesterday. JEJ also picked zucchini, a cucumber, green peppers,and lots of green beans. I love this time of year as we begin to harvest, put up food, and enjoy the bounty from our garden.
As I began to unpack from my ocean trip, I carefully unwrapped the gifts brought home from the sea. My cobalt blue collection is now richer with a lovely vase, a piece of deep blue handcrafted glass work that will work well as a sun catcher, and a set of polished rocks for a dish on the table. The white bag full of saltwater taffy caused much debate as we gathered around the table at the ocean. Which flavor is really the best? We were trying to decide between huckleberry, creamsicle, black licorice, tropical punch, and hot cinnamon. Of course, Flamingo Jim's gift shop provided both of us with new fleece jackets to remind us of Rockaway Beach. Sand still in our shoes, cheese curds left from the Tillamook Cheese Factory, and lots of photographs and memories remain as we adjust to our daily routine here at home.
After arriving home today I reflected on my fantastic trip and revisited all the photos I had downloaded on the trip. Reviewing these pictures reminded me how much fun I had with my nieces. They are funny, talented, smart, good at texting, and great models when I have my camera ready! They are always up for a game of Apples to Apples, Scattergories, or Jeopardy on television. They can take any simple event and turn it into something that makes me laugh so hard I choke on my Diet Coke.Yes, I love my nieces to pieces.
One of the simple joys of raising a garden is harvesting those first vegetables. Today JEJ gathered carrots, beets, and cabbage. I believe coleslaw tastes just a bit better when the carrots and cabbage are home grown. The beet is in a category all by itself. It looks beautiful as it is picked. It's red dye fills the pan with gorgeous color and the savory aroma of cooking beets just smells like late summer. What a garden feast we experienced!
We topped our dinner off with something we brought back from our trip. I found a Hermiston Yellow Seedless watermelon. When I saw the wedges on a plate to sample at the produce place, I thought it was pineapple. I think it tastes close to other colors of watermelon, but is such a beautiful color when sliced.
