Harvest

Today I had intended to share a story about a long lost wandering soul who has recently returned to the bosom of the the family here in the little green cottage. It seems though, that I am still ferreting out the details of this epic tale and will have to save it for another time.

So today you get tomatoes. A great big heaping helping of tomatoes!

Did I say BIG?

2011 turned out to be a pretty good year for the tomatoes, the best we've had in about 3 - 4 years. That last little burst of hot weather kicked it into full gear. Of course even with sharing some with neighbors and eating plenty ourselves, we still had a small mountain of them.

So...on one of the hottest days of the year, in a very steamy and also very tiny kitchen, I began to blanch and peel and prep.

Normally I would can the whole toms, or turn them into a basic sauce, but this year I decided on Salsa!
In the pot went: onions, garlic, sweet peppers from the garden, jalapeños, cilantro, cumin, pickling salt, sugar (just a pinch), and a combo of red wine vinegar and cider vinegar.
It cooked down just gorgeous! Now we are set with salsa for many months to come. I love putting up food (ok I didn't love how hot it was, or how my fingers were made raw with all the prep, but it's totally satisfying and worth it!)



I'll be back on Friday with a happy how-to! See you then.