A bit of rain!!

Wow! I awoke this morning to see a light rain falling!  It is sorely needed.  The forecast looks like we may get some throughout the next few days.  It isn't a good soaker, but at this point, any and all rainfall is appreciated!

Patti managed to find enough tomatoes ripened in the garden to make a batch of salsa.  It is a favorite in our household and we never end up with any left over from year to year. She made the batch a night or two ago, then put it in the fridge.  After I got in from work, I set up the camp stove out on the back porch and set the canner to heating up.  After allowing it to process in the boiling water bath for 40 minutes. I shut off the heat.  Shortly afterwards, I plucked each jar from the boiling water bath and set them to cool, covering them with a towel to prevent them from cooling too fast and breaking.

Patti's first batch of salsa yielded 9 jars of the spicy stuff!

Now, if we could only figure out how to make and store enough crispy tortilla chips to last us the winter, we'd be all set!

Below is my wife's recipe for her notorious "911 Sauce" made using lots of fiery hot Thai peppers.  Beware!  This stuff is delightfully dangerous!  (If you have less fiery preferences, just substitute some jalapenos or other milder peppers for the thai peppers.  We didn't have Thai peppers this year, so that's what we did.  However you make it, I'm sure you'll like it.  Enjoy!

911 Salsa

2 Tbsp olive oil

½ c onions, chopped fine

½ c celery, minced

2 Tbsp red or green sweet peppers, minced

3 Tbsp Thai Hot peppers, minced

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

4 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp honey

½ tsp dried basil

¼ tsp dried coriander

¼ tsp cumin seeds

¼ tsp chili powder

In a large skillet, heat the oil.  Add the onions, celery, the sweet and hot peppers, and garlic.  Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in the tomatoes, lemon juice, honey, basil, coriander, cumin seeds, and chili powder.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low; cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Makes about 5 half-pints.

Ladle the hot salsa into clean jars.  Wipe the rims and apply the lids, screwing them down snugly.  Process for 40 minutes in a boiling water bath.

As I looked at the garden this morning, I can see that our Celebrity tomatoes are starting to come on.  Those, along with the Viva Italia tomatoes and the Romas, will be picked on Monday evening and hopefully, we'll be making some more salsa and canning this week!