Salsa Making

Last week Dad gave me some tomatoes . . . and I'm almost out of salsa, so we made some.  He'd told me he was going to bring some tomatoes down, but I didn't have any idea how many, so I hadn't bought anything else for making salsa.

I was having a super busy week, with canning pears, baking and getting ready for a garage sale, so I really only had that night to get the salsa done.  I realized David had a little extra time so I asked him to pick up my peppers, onions, etc., to save me a special trip to town.  I first sent him to the local fruit & veggie stand.  He was able to get all of the veggies there except for habaneros.  I suddenly realized I also needed tomato paste, so he was able to get both from the grocery store.  I thought the veggie stand would be cheaper than the grocery store, but everything was the same price!

{Twice I tried uploading a picture of Rachel chopping veggies, but it refused to upload!}

Our veggies, all chopped and ready for salsa.

Salsa all made.  I made two big kettles of it.  The first batch I made was our normal "hot" salsa.  I made a batch that was a little milder that I use in casseroles . . . some of our family isn't as "Mexican" as the rest of us:)

I was really surprised how FAST our salsa was made.  The girls all helped make part of it.  It only took about 3 1/2 hours to get 21 pints and 30 1/2 and 3/4 pints made, in jars, processed, completely done!

Even with last minute shopping and not getting great prices on any of the ingredients I bought, everything only costed just under $30.  I thought that was a great price . . . as it will probably last us a couple years.

Ever since Mom first got this recipe from a friend of ours and we started making our own salsa, I haven't bought salsa from the store.  It just seems really gross now!

This week I made stewed tomatoes and if anyone else gives me tomatoes I'll be making more of those!  Have a great weekend:)

We're Still Alive . . . And Other Things!

Someone was wondering if this blog was still alive:)  Even though it appears otherwise, it really is still alive!!  Or, at least, we are alive.  I guess sometimes life just takes over and things get too busy.  I know I should post a little more often because I hate when other peoples' blogs never get new posts.  I do check out my blog list almost every day to see what others have to say.

I've been thinking about doing a post on David and the boys' trip to Looking Glass Lake, up near Mt. Adams.  They'd been planning to go, and finally were able to the last day before school started.  They were up and off early in the morning, David, Reid, Christopher, Clint, Clayton and Forrest.  And, we got a quiet house for the day:)

They had around a couple hour drive to get to the beginning of where they were going to start hiking.  Once there, it was about a 5 mile hike to the lake.

Reid, Christopher, Clayton, Clint and Forrest . . . ready to head out.

Reid in the lead . . . pointing out something.

Forrest on the trail.  Lots of pretty lupines up there.

Clayton proudly showing off one of the many fish he caught.

Clint with his catch.

Beautiful Looking Glass Lake

Mt. Adams

Reid fishing.

Cooking someone's fish over the fire.

The beautiful lake again.

They all seemed to have a wonderful day with many stories to tell.

David and I went on this hike 19 years ago, soon after we were married.  We had a beautiful day then, too!