Good Eats!

My dad came to visit for Father's Day.  This was quite the challenge due to all the flooding that had closed several road options.  I fixed fried chicken since both my dad and the hubs enjoy that.  We ate outside on the new patio.

At the beginning of July, DD and I met my cousins and aunt at the Amish produce auction by Versailles.  

 We bought tomatoes, sweet corn, blackberries, and peaches!  (with enough pain medicine for the jaw pain, I managed to eat my fill of sweet corn!)

I tried some new salsa recipes.  One was a canned salsa, and I have several jars of it.  The other was a fresh salsa that only made a small batch.  We really liked it.  I have made it several times this summer and have put some in the freezer.  Of course, we have consumed quite a lot of it.  I have tweeked it a little each time and really like it with the Roma tomatoes I have been getting from my garden.

Fresh Salsa
2 1/2 lbs. tomatoes (I like Roma's because they are meatier)
2 jalapenos
1/4 medium red onion
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I am generous with this)
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 t. salt
1 t. liquid smoke

I core the tomatoes and cut them in half, then slice the jalapenos in half lengthwise, removing the stems and seeds.  I drizzle them with olive oil and put them on the BBQ grill about 10-20 minutes or until the jalapenos have plenty of black on them and the tomato skins begin to come off.  Let them cool.  I like to put the tomatoes in a colander to let the extra liquid run off, then remove the skins.  

Run all the ingredients through the food processor.  Puree on high for 10 seconds or until it's the consistency you like.  Chill several hours or overnight before serving.  It makes around 2 cups of salsa.

I also made 2 batches of black raspberry jelly, and put a few peaches and pizza sauce in the freezer.  We did several containers of peaches for my in-laws as well as a batch of peach preserves.  I made one batch of sweet pickle spears and sent about half over to my father-in-law.  I'm still getting tomatoes, so will probably make salsa again and maybe some spaghetti sauce.  We didn't put sweet corn in the freezer because we were still stocked from last year.  It was pretty good with a BLT sandwich and some fresh cucumbers and onions this summer!

This is probably my favorite summertime meal!

Christi