ANYONE UP FOR SALSA VERDE?

GREEN TOMATOES ANYONE?

Our house or I should say MY kitchen

has been covered in bowls, bags, boxes

and just about anything else that DH

could find with green tomatoes.

You see, cold weather has arrived

and while DH was digging up the

garden he found 'green tomatoes'.

Lots of them!  DH just didn't have

the heart to throw them away ...

since he raised them from little seeds,

 he can't seem to part with them!!!

That's where I come in ...reluctantly! 

The first batch ...my kitchen sink is overflowing!

This was Day One and about four hours of work!

This was Day Two, and again about 

four hours of work!!

FINAL RESULT!!!

Eight Quarts and Twenty Pints

OF SALSA VERDE!!

(One pint is already in the fridge and half gone!)

What I don't do for that man!!!

***RECIPE***

14 cups chopped green tomatoes 

(no need to peal or seed, just core and put in food processor)

2 large green bell peppers, chopped

3 large onions, chopped

3 to 5 (or more) clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup lemon or lime juice

1/2 jar jalapeno peppers, chopped

(I use a jar of peppers instead of fresh,

don't want to have to cut fresh Jalapeno's!) 

Add all of the above to a large pot and

bring to a boil. After the pot starts to

boil ...add

1 bunch cilantro

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pepper

4 tsp. cumin powder

2 tsp. oregano

Simmer for 5 minutes.

Ladle hot mixture into prepared

canning jars and process for

15 minutes.

(Since I live in Utah where the

elevation is higher. I process

my jars for 35 minutes.)

Remove from water bath,

let cool making sure that

all seal's are tight.

There should be no pop on the top 

when you poke it with your finger!

Cool,  store, and

enjoy with chips, nacho's, in soup's or

casserole's!!!

DELICIOUS, SPICEY

but, not to hot!!! 

 YUMM0!!!

Oh, and you might be asking ...

what about the 'RED' tomatoes?

Didn't you have to spend time

canning those?

The answer is one, big, fat ...

NO!!!

This year we tried something

new! We froze them!

Very easy and less time consuming!

Wash tomatoes, core and place on

a flat pan and place in freezer.

Once frozen 

remove from pan and

place in airtight plastic bags and

store in freezer.

When you are ready to use

a few, remove from freezer,

thaw and use in soup's, sauces

or casseroles.

(The skin will just come off once thawed).

EASY, EASY, EASY!!!

FROM MAY TO DECEMBER ....

No, seriously!

We went from May to December

in just one night!

 This is what I woke up to this morning!

Yesterday I was working in the garden!

Today, I'm sitting by the fire!

Come on people! 

We are talking May 24th here!!!

SUMMER DAYS!

With hot summer days comes an array of outdoor activities!

ACTIVITY #1

Helping in the garden!

ACTIVITY #2

Making sure the garden soil is just right!

ACTIVITY #3

Are those pototatoes ready for picking?

ACTIVITY #4

Grandpa ...can we pick a few carrots?

ACTIVITY #5

Relaxing a bit in the shade!

ACTIVITY #6

A bit of reading and a glass of cold ice tea!

(My FAVORITE activity!)

*****

So, tell me what is your favorite summer time activity?

******

P.S. I QUILT is having a great giveaway! Hurry on over ...it ends August 1st!

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

Our garden is growing like gangbusters!

We've had cooler than

normal temperatures!

We've had lots and lots of rain!

And, now we have this....

(bare with ...there are lots of photo's)

This is the corn patch!

If you look closely you will see

the little tassels of the baby corn

starting to peep their heads out!

Here's the potato patch!

Hopefully there are potatoes growing

underneath ...the tops sure look great!

Just a snippet of the whole garden! If you remember this, The Urban Farmer then you'll understand my bewilderment in where I thought all these plants were going to go! Half my backyard is now farm land!

There is also lots of squash growing

here and there among the corn and also

a few plants in my front yard.

I do believe The Urban Farmer overestimated what

he thought he needed to fill the garden space!

There are carrots and onions!

And peas, beans and tomatoes. So with so much growing ...

there is bound to be some of this....

FREEZING!

We are already picking some of the

sweet peas! So you start with a few of these.

Trim the ends! Then blanch for

90 seconds! Yes, just 90 seconds!

Then you cool with cold water and ice.

After that you put them in your freezer

bags and they are ready for the freezer!

*****

If you are growing a garden, you might

be interested in this

Blanching Vegetables.

I also purchased this at my local grocery store.

I didn't want to invest in an expensive vacuum sealing

machine. This cost about 14 bucks and the bags are

about $3.50 per box of 14 quart size!

Works for me!

*****
Hope you've enjoyed a bit (okay ...a lot) of our garden!
So, tell me how does your garden grow?

SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT!

I can't believe I haven't posted in eight days!

Soooooo much has been going on...

FIRST TO TALK ABOUT....

Dear Sweet Daughter came to visit for the

summer! I'm so excited to have her home for so long.

We are having tons of fun and even more laughter!

Lucky me to have her back home again!

*****

SECOND TOPIC OF DISCUSSION....

Remember this ....The Urban Farmer

Well, The Urban Farmer's garden looks like this now!

The garden is actually fuller now with all

the rain we've been getting!

The Urban Farmer is quite happy!

*****

THIRD TOPIC OF DISCUSSION!

Is the RedBarnCo. sew along!

I'm all caught up and we are in week 5!

This week we are putting the quilt

together and quilting it.

I have opted to send my quilt to

Russ at "The Back Porch Quilters".

Should be mailing it off the first of

the week! I'm so excited!

Russ will quilt the top using

a long-arm machine and he

will do the binding as well!

Can't beat that! And...

all for a reasonable charge!

Well worth all that he does!

This Sew-Along has been loads of fun!

Here's my finished quilt top!

Not a great picture! But enough

to get the gest of it!

The quilt top turned out

to be 55" x 75".

I'm lik'in the colors! I wanted

bright and cheery! The backing that

I got for it is a small stripe with most of

the colors from the quilt top!

Think it's going to look cute!

I'll post more pic's once I get it back

from the quilters!

****

SEE YOU ALL SOON!

HAVE A FANTASTIC

WEEKEND AND

A HAPPY 'FATHER'S DAY'!

I'm home!
After spending a bit of quality time
with Daughter Dear and friends in
California; I've finally returned home!
****
It was a fabulous visit and I was treated
to a wonderful day at the spa complete
with sauna and steam room! It was
heavenly!
****
Since being home it seems with spring
comes numerous home projects
to keep me busy. Dear Hubby
and I are currently working to refurbish
our front yard. Since moving in we have
devoted most of our spring planting time
to our backyard. Now it's time for
some great curb appeal for the front.
The only great thing that my front yard
currently has going for it is the
fact that I have 19 rose bushes!
With that said ....

Here is a sampling of what I cut yesterday!

My roses are gorgeous this year!
With so many bushes ...there are so many colors.

Roses, Roses, Roses!
Roses everywhere!

Just a small sampling of the
beautiful shapes, sizes and colors!

For these I just cut ...
I used one of my favorite
vases! Two sweet love birds!

I really don't think the photo does
justice ...the bouquet is gorgeous!
A full two dozen roses ...all in one vase!
Simply gorgeous!
****
So what favorite flower is
blooming in your garden?

THE URBAN FARMER...

In lieu of 'Earth Day' ....

I give you ....

The Urban Farmer

(aka Dear Hubby)

The Urban Farmer came to be about

two months ago when DH

wanted a bigger garden.

Is the 'Urban Farmer' myth, legend or fact?

You be the judge!

As the story goes,

it all started late one night ...

The Urban Farmer had an idea!

Plant a bigger garden ...

with more crop ... with more seed ...

with more land!

So ...The Urban Farmer began his journey!

He planted and planted and planted!

Mind you ...The Urban Farmer did all of

this at the kitchen table!

The little plantings grew and grew and grew!
They grew too fast. The Urban Farmer said
that the seedlings would sprout in four to
six weeks ...they sprouted in days!



Those little seedlings are everywhere.
The Urban Farmer says the weather is
not cooperating ...it's suppose to be
Spring; but it's acting more like Winter.


The little seedlings are suppose to
be here ....instead they are ....



HERE!



Gotta love 'em! Why else would the
Urban Farmer's Wife put up with
shelves of sprouting seeds in her
living room and dining room?
****
Here's hoping that the weather
warms up very soon so that
The Urban Farmer can
get his crop in the ground!
****
HAPPY EARTH DAY!
(One day late)

A Busy Day...

A VERY BUSY DAY INDEED!

This weekend was a busy one. My husband and I ventured out to the one of the many areas that features a Farmer's Market. We returned with a bushel of peaches, two dozen sweet corn and a very large bag of green beans. After preparing the beans and corn, they were promptly put in the freezer. Then I started to tackle the peaches. My first time canning peaches...I think it's easier to go to the store and buy a jar or two, but then again it would not be nearly the fun.

Well, I keep telling myself it was fun? The peaches will be used for the winter, when nothing will satisfy as a warm peach cobbler.

This is the partially filled box of peaches, I had already prepared half when I took the picture. They look yummy don't they?

The pre-canning stage........mmmmm, what fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, the finished product. I think these will make lovely peach cobblers this winter!

Once the peaches were complete, I tackled the zucchini from our garden.

From this......to this......

Okay, I think I've worked in the kitchen long enough. In addition to the canning, I baked two loaves of banana bread from some very over ripe bananas. Monday brought more canning of the zucchini....zucchini is another story. Our garden is over run by zucchini.

Our very small garden, which produces sooooooo much!!!!! Gotta love it!!!!!!!!!

There is certainly much more zucchini to can or bake with, but for today I am only working on

creative things in my room. I need a break from the garden and the kitchen!

Tomorrow, more zucchini cannning and perhaps a loaf or two of zucchini bread!