Homemade salsa

 

I'm happy to say that despite the dry weather, my garden tomatoes and peppers have been plentiful this year.  I planted jalapenos earlier in the summer (I found a three-pack of jalapeno seedlings for 99 cents at Fareway!)  So I thought it would be fun to try to make salsa at home.

I've never made salsa before, mostly because my husband is super picky about salsa.  Like the three little bears, he doesn't like his salsa too watery, or too hot, or too thin. I asked him what he thought the perfect salsa recipe would look like.  He said the salsa had to be thick, like the Pace picante sauce we get at the grocery store. The recipe has to have vinegar in it, he says, and a little bit of heat, but not too much.

I searched and searched for a recipe that meets his requirements, and finally landed on the Rockin' Salsa recipe from Allrecipes. (Click here for the recipe.)  I modified the recipe a bit, because all I had were jalapenos, not banana peppers and such.  I was a little worried about all the sugar in the recipe, but it really didn't taste overly sweet, and it makes a huge batch. I also didn't can the recipe; I froze the extra salsa instead.  I don't feel comfortable canning recipes that aren't USDA approved to ensure food safety.

Do you have a favorite salsa recipe?  How do you like your salsa?  I'm glad I found something that my super picky husband really likes.

Homemade ketchup

One of the reasons why I grew so many tomatoes this year was because I wanted to make ketchup from scratch.  My husband still raves about the ketchup that his grandma made when he was a kid. I've never had anything but the bottled stuff, but I was more than willing to give it a try.

I found an easy, small-batch recipe in the Canning special interest publication that Better Homes and Gardens published last year. (If BH&Gs publishes it again next summer, be sure to pick up a copy. It's got a ton of terrific canning recipes.)

I tried out the recipe last year and loved it.  So as soon as I had ripe tomatoes this summer, I tried out the recipe again.  Unfortunately, I wasn't paying close enough attention when the tomatoes were simmering down, and I ended up burning my first batch of the year!

I didn't have enough time (or tomatoes) to make another batch right away.  But now that all the green tomatoes I picked from last month's freeze are ripe, I gave the ketchup recipe another whirl.  I was very, very careful not to burn it this time.  It took forever, but I ended up with a beautiful batch of ketchup!

Now if you're making ketchup at home, keep in mind that it won't be as thick as the ketchup you get from the bottle.  My husband said he remembers that his grandma's ketchup was a a little runny. He would dip hot dogs in the ketchup. In fact, that's still the way he eats hot dogs -- instead of squeezing ketchup on top, he dips it like a French fry.

Here's the recipe I got from Better Homes and Gardens.  Just remember, don't rush the "simmering" stage, even if it takes longer than the 2 hours called for in the recipe.

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Homemade ketchup

• 8 pounds tomatoes
• 1/2 C. chopped onion
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 C. sugar
• 1 C. white vinegar
• 1-1/2 inches stick cinnamon, broken
• 1-1/2 tsp. whole cloves
• 1 tsp. celery seeds
• 1 Tbl. salt

Wash tomatoes. Remove stem ends and cores. Cut tomatoes into quarters. In a stainless steel pot, combine tomatoes, onion and cayenne pepper. Bring to boiling, stirring often; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 15 mintues, stirring often.

Press tomato mixture through a food mill. Discard seeds and skins. Return tomato mixture to same pot. Add sugar. Use a ruler to measure the depth of the mixture; make a note of the depth. Bring to boiling, stirring until sugar dissolves; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until mixture is reduced by half, stirring occasionally.

In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, cinnamon, cloves and celery seeds. Bring to boiling. Remove from heat. Strain vinegar through a fine-mesh sieve into tomato mixture; discard spices. Add salt. Simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes more or until ketchup is desired consistency; stirring often.

Ladle hot ketchup into hot, sterilized half-pint containers, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims; adjust lids.

Process filled jars in a boiling-water canner for 15 mintues (start timing when water returns to boiling). Remove jars from canner; cool on wired racks.

Dehydrating tomatoes

Remember all those green tomatoes I picked in October before the first frost?

Well, slowly (very slowly!), the tomatoes have ripened over the past few weeks.  I've kept them stored in a couple wicker baskets. Once a week, I pick out the ripe tomatoes and either freeze them whole (after boiling the peels off) or cut them up for the dehydrator.

I bought this dehydrator as a birthday present for my husband a few years back, not knowing if we would actually use it that much.  But we use it all the time -- and all year round.  When we're not drying tomatoes, we're drying pears, carrots, apples and herbs, just to name a few.

My husband likes to add the dried tomatoes and carrots in pasta dishes.  He calls it his own version of hamburger helper :)

I love the mix of yellow and red dehydrated tomatoes in the mix.  My husband has already requested that I grow the "Orange Blossom" tomatoes again next year. One plant yielded a lot of yellow (insect-free) fruit.

Do you have a dehydrator at home? What have you tried to dry in it?

In the Garden: September 2012

Every night after work, I step outside the backdoor and check on my garden.  Now that the days are getting shorter, the sun starts to dip into the horizon as I do my nightly garden checks. 

It's been a strange year for growing tomatoes.  The long stretch of dry, 100-degree days stopped the fruit from setting. And then when we do get some rain, the tomato plants suck up the moisture so fast that the tomatoes crack from the sudden growth spurt.  I've also been battling the bugs this year.  If I don't pick the tomatoes fast enough, the bugs will get to them first.

But the other night, I picked the first absolutely perfect tomato of the year: no cracks, no brown spots, not bugs.  Just perfectly round and red.  So of course, I had to take a photo, even though the sun was about to set.

Then I stopped to take a few more photos of the cute little marigolds that seem to glow at night.  I planted them in dry dirt, and I didn't think they would last the summer.  But after a few little rain showers, they have really popped with the blooms.

Most of the ornamental flowers I planted from seed this year never grew in the dry dirt.  I didn't know what I was going to end up with until the flowers started blooming.  Well, I was quite surprised to discover that I had sunflowers growing in my garden.  I don't remember planting sunflower seeds this spring.  But I'm so glad I did, because they look gorgeous this fall.  They must be a dwarf variety, because they only stand about 2 to 3 feet tall. The bugs love the blooms, however, and eat the petals down to nothing almost as soon as the flowers start blooming.

Sunflowers titling toward the sunset.  Doesn't get much prettier than that.

Now I'm really hoping for some rain this fall.  We haven't had a good soaker since the spring; every rain has totaled one-half inch or less, while places north or south of us get more.  We could use the rain to replenish our soil moisture reserves before spring planting season.

How is your garden handling the summer drought?  Are you tired of watering your garden?  I know I sure am.  Nothing beats a good rain storm.

Container gardening: Peas in a pot (or bag)

I've been having a lot of fun, and some unexpected success, at growing vegetables in containers. Yes, I have to water the container vegetables constantly.  But I also can move them around the garden if I want to change the look, make room for something else or give the vegetables more sun or shade.

This winter, I ordered a pack of Peas-in-a-Pot seeds from Burpee.  I've never had much luck growing spring peas, for some reason.  But I did have some success last year at growing lettuce in a grocery bag, after seeing it at a Discover Garden in southern Iowa.  So I decided to plant peas in a bag!

Guess what?  It worked!  I got about a handful of peas from the seeds I planted in the reuseable grocery bag.  Next year, if I do this again, I'm going to grow two bags so I can get a few more peas.

I've also been enjoying a crop of early tomatoes, which I planted in buckets way back in April.  I tried a new yellow pear tomato variety this year, and I've been amazed how many little tomatoes are coming off the plant.  And the little yellow tomatoes look so colorful in salads.

If you're interested in container gardening, in a 5 gallon bucket or bag, I have just a few suggestions.  Make sure you poke (or drill) holes in the bottom of the container for drainage.  Use potting soil (not "garden soil").  Fertilize every two weeks with Miracle Grow or an equivalent.  Don't let the containers dry out.  I water the pots once a day when the weather gets hot, and about every other day when the temps are closer to 70 degrees.  If we get a rain, I'll also wait a day or two to water.  Finally, I recommend using some type of fungicide to prevent tomato wilt and stem rot.  I found an organic fungicide/insecticide/miticide at our local Earl May Garden Center that works great.  One of the main ingredients is Neem Oil, a natural fungicide.

Have you tried container vegetable gardening in your own backyard?  Do you have any advice for those of us who are still learning how to make it work?

Frost advisory

Tonight, I enjoyed a wonderful dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Felix & Oscars in West Des Moines, with my sister and mom, who was in town for a meeting.  When I got home, I checked my Facebook page and saw that my friends were picking their tomatoes ahead of this evening's first frost of the season.  Granted, many of my friends are from northern Iowa, where temps are supposed to dip well below freezing.  But when I saw that a CSA farmer in nearby Boone was also picking her tomatoes and peppers, I realized I better save what I could, even if it was 9 o'clock at night.

So my husband and I grabbed flashlights and jackets, and we just finished picking the tomatoes and peppers worth saving (i.e., those that aren't too small or bug-ridden).  I really wanted to save the late-planted heirloom tomatoes I bought at the Osceola Community Garden back in June.  The plant had plenty of tomatoes on it, but none had ripened yet.  I'm hoping they will ripen after picking on my kitchen counter.

Looks like my gardening season is coming to an early close.  Did your gardens escape the frost?

Tomato hunters

Josh and I went on a "tomato hunt" through Boone County last weekend, since my garden refuses to yield any ripe, red tomatoes. We had to stop at two farms to get enough tomatoes for canning. It's getting pretty late in the season, so this will probably be my last attempt at canning crushed tomatoes. We're planning to use these for Josh's famous chili this winter.

Sorry only one photo this time. My husband took the camera with him fishing this weekend. He wants photographic proof the next time he catches the big one!