Today I’ve been on my feet all day.
6:30 Feed and water the chickens and geese
8:00 Made Salsa
Ingredients:
5 lbs fresh picked tomatoes
1 lb fresh picked jalapeno peppers
3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (or same volume white vinegar)
1 lb fresh picked cilantro
2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
Preparation:
Washed tomatoes and chop. Seed and deveined one pound of Jalapeño peppers, chop. Peeled and chopped one pound of onion. Peeled and chopped 6 large garlic cloves. Added all of the above to my large dutch oven with the lemon juice and two teaspoons of Kosher Salt, Simmered on the stove for 10 minutes. Washed, patted dry and chopped 1/4 cup cilantro.
Meanwhile, I sterilized 6 pint jars and put them into the oven 175 degrees to keep warm.
When the salsa was done cooking for the recommended time, I quickly stirred in the chopped cilantro, and then packed the salsa into the jars.
Following good canning (or jarring) practice of course! I then placed the jars into a hot water bath with two inches of water above the lids and boiled for 15 minutes to process.
When the timer went off I then carefully removed the jars to a wire rack to cool. Listening with delight as each jar made that certain ‘pop’ which told me I was successfully sealed.
12:45 PM WHERE DID THE TIME GO!!! Realizing I need to be in downtown Huntsville for a Dr’s appointment at 2:10 I run for the shower, finish, jump out, get dressed, brush teeth, gargle, spritz hair and run my fingers through it briskly.
Looking in the mirror I realize I no longer look like the sophisticated and lovely Judi Dench
(My recent hair cut given to me with scissors, behind closed doors by moi.)
And far too late to do aNyThInG about it I have suddenly realized I am the spitting image of…
(Christopher Walken Photo Credit linked to picture ~ click)
1:30 Shove dogs out door to pee.
1:40 Call dogs back in so I can go!
1:45 Jump in car drive like hell, get to Dr’s parking lot, ACTUALLY FIND A PARKING SPACE! (Will miracles never cease!) Fly into the building take elevator to second floor…
2:10 ON TIME, OH YEAH! Dr. ex-rays hand, finds that damage from large box of books that fell onto my hand (when moving three yrs ago) has caused the cartilage, in the joint that holds my thumb in place on my wrist, is gone. Yeah, it hurts like heck all the time. Dr. gives me a shot that hurts way more than ‘Like HECK,’ then puts a band-aid on the injection site and sends me home. (I am allowed three of these injection treatments by the way, and then it’s surgery) Eh…
3:45 I leave Dr’s office and go to the Fresh Foods Market because, hey as long as I am here, I might as well get some of those awesome gluten free wraps I found there the last time I was in… OH no! GONE!
I asked the supplier, who just happened to be there, “Where were they moved to?”
He replies in a very blasé voice, “Sorry, they’re discontinued.”
Sigh.
4:10 Hop in car, get on highway, drive home.
4:30 Waiting fourth in line to make the left hand turn that leads to the home stretch in HeAvY traffic. The dude in front of me is just sitting there looking over his shoulder, and seriously, he’s trying to get back into the traffic lane!
What the… Are we serious? Now the light has turned red again and he jackrabbits into the car wash parking lot, blows through onto my road home, and follows the light through to continue north on the highway! Seriously.
4:50 I am home. I walk in, my kitchen is a hot mess because I didn’t have time to deal with it before I left and I realize I have a smile on my face.
Why you ask?
Because in spite of the hot mess, and the tired feet, and the shot of cortisone that hurt ‘way more than HECK,’ I am home. I have 6 pints of summer put up for this winter, with more to come, Bob just walked through the door, and now it is the weekend!
No, your eyes do not deceive you, there really are only five jars… Bob couldn’t wait and opened one up! 😉
So what makes you smile on days like this?
UPDATE
Peggy, a good friend of mine, shared this little video and song on the topic of canning and a “little bit of summer.” I liked it so much that I wanted to share it with all my dear readers.
It is simply and appropriately titled:
Canned Goods
Life on the Farmlet 
It was beginning to sound like a regular day in my old chaotic life before I got sick. I am happy to say that I don’t miss it. I am even happier that you got through it and returned home with a smile.
I’ve never made salsa yet but it is on my list 🙂 is canning very hard? If so, could I just cook this and eat right away by dividing the recipe?
Ginger, Canning is not hard, just a lot of work. But it is rewarding! For your salsa if you aren’t canning, do this in approximate amounts:
5 tomatoes, 1 or 2 jalapeno peppers1 cup onion, one clove garlic, two or three tbs. cilantro, juice of one lemon, OR lime is good too, salt to taste. The prep is the same as I mentioned in the post. With or without the cooking is delicious. I only cook it for canning, the rest of the time I just whip it up fresh. Give it a few hours to blend the flavors in the refrigerator if you can stand to wait, AND depending on how hot you like it you can leave in a few ribs and seeds, or if you are a Fire breather, you can just chop them up whole! LOL!
Great post…. I loved it. Glad your day ended in a smile & hopefully that injection fixed the pain you have to endure all the time.
That salsa is on my list of things to make when I get my new kitchen in our renovated church….let’s hope we’re in there before xmas!
Lyn, somehow I thought you were in and sort of camping out while the renovations took place. BUT, having lived through a year of renovations to our home in California I pronounce you Smart Woman of the Year! It is draining the the system and your peace of mind to camp out in your own home… and cooking in the bathroom, doing dishes in the bathtub, NEVER AGAIN! As for the thumb Dr. said give it 48 hours to notice improvement. So, we’ll see! 🙂
Lynda, you make me smile on a day like this. 😀 Your posts are great and I always look for a new one. Your depiction of “The Haircut” is truly funny. Your canning looks fantastic – what’s in the other jars? I’m going to skip canning this year as we are STILL living (existing) in this trailer. I’ve been freezing all produce instead. Everything made from tomatoes will just have to wait – I will even freeze the tomatoes which aren’t quite ripe yet here in the north. I’m really unhappy about tomatoes right now – I had 6 lovely bushes all filled with green leaves and loads of green tomatoes just about to ripen. I was having a small problem with tomato horn worms but I went out to the garden everyday, picked the little buggers off and dutifully smushed each one. I had done this onThursday as well. I went out Friday (yesterday) afternoon to do the same and – DECIMATED! Nothing left but bare stalks covered – COVERED – in green tomato horn worms. I happily took a big rock and smashed each one to pulp as I ripped them from the bare stalks. Now I must buy a bushel of tomatoes. 😦 Must I really camp out in my garden?).
My smile for this morning: your absolutely stunningly beautiful cans of fresh summer produce which you will open on cold winter days (all except for one, that is. 🙂
Thanks Lindy! The contents of the other jars… well, there’s Strawberry preserves for Bob, this is the SECOND batch so hopefully we won’t run out! (guess I did good this year?) Then the little black colored jars are Quasi-Cherry Jam which has been renamed to “Cherry SYRUP.”
HOT TIP: If a watched pot never boils then a simmering pot with the lid on, left unattended, will boil all over the stove and the contents will never set because you lost your pectin!!!!!!!!!!
As for your tomatoes there are organic solutions:
1. Bacillus dust
2. Encorage braconid wasps! (remember the picture in my earlier post?)
3. Look here for some awesome information, and pictures (one looked like your description of your tomatoes 😦 ) http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1224.html
4. You dont have to camp out at night, but you do need to get there about 10:00 PM with a flashlight and a
smaller, LARGE (?) pail of soapy water. They are most active at night as you know, so do your hunting when they are up. 😉5. If the damage is real bad, as you have indicated, then you could just pile straw all about the bottoms of the plants, and torch the whole mess while dancing about the garden chanting, “DIE YOU SUCKKAS, DIE!”
Hope this helps you.
Hi Lindy, Just wondering if you might live near a commercial grower. This used to happen to a friend of mine every year when the Heinz grower next door sprayed his tomato field… MASS exodus into her garden:(
What makes me smile? A good post like this one!
Thanks, I really enjoy your posts too! Question, are the tabs at the top of your page leading to other writers, or are they YOU as well?
Great post Lynda :))
Coming home to my happy dogs always makes me smile. oh and a cold beer really helps too !
Thanks Rich! Aren’t dogs the best suck ups? No matter what mood you are in they are always there to show you how much you mean to them. A wag of the tail, a sloppy kiss, their goofy smiles… yup, their antics can put a smile on your face almost right away! Oh, and they are so intuitive. They know when it’s been a stressful or sad day for you too, and will always change their demeanor to quiet mode. Then they are your comforters and understandingly listen or just put their head in your lap with eyes that say, “I understand.”
I used to be a cat person until I got a dog…
It’s a good thing when we can allow one accomplishment to measure a day. Your salsa looks and sounds delicious. I may just try the fresh recipe someday, my mum used to make it. Fresh tomatoes aren’t all that easy to come by here. I admire your energy and your attitude very much. I use your method of haircutting too. I figured the hairdressers never managed to make me a fashion model, so it wasn’t worth paying for. 🙂
“It’s a good thing when we can allow one accomplishment to measure a day.”
Cindy I never even thought of it that way! Thank you for seeing into my life and picking out the wonderful within it! Do let me know how your salsa turns out. You, of course, can go with a very few tomatoes and then add the rest by taste. (How I usually cook) AND HEY, am I glad to know I am among quite a few self hair stylists too! Though I wouldn’t have guessed it by looking at you! So you are either a natural at the self hair cutting method, or perhaps you’ve had more practice? I have a long way to go in that talent. 🙂
PS: Been missing you here and on your blogs. Guess school being back in session will do that… as I well know. 😉
Wow, you have been busy! Recipe looks great.
Thank you Isabel! I only had time for a brief visit to your blog, but think I can learn much from you! So very beautiful! I look forward to your next post!