Tuesday, January 19, 2010


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In photos...






Thanks for the tip Miranda! I need to brush up on my photo skills!

What this doesn't show are the multiple batches of salsa and tortilla chips that I devoured while I knitted away furiously. I am the type who will get way too focused and forget to eat all day... so snacks are a must. I only mention this for one important reason. I froze about 30 or 40 pounds of tomatoes from the garden this year, all in serving size baggies. I always have great intentions, and they do eventually get used up when I run out of the cheater cans of tomatoes in the pantry! It is the blanching and peeling I dread! So I have been successfully plowing through the tomato supply with this great salsa recipe!!!
Slide the frozen tomatoes straight out of the bag onto a baking tray and throw on a couple of cloves of unpeeled garlic and an Jalapeno pepper .( I have been skipping the hot pepper and instead am putting in one chipotle pepper in adobe sauce. The kind in the little cans) I use a large mortar and pestle to make my salsa but I am sure that a food processer would work. I have also seen the japanese style suribachi for much cheaper than a good mortar and pestle and they work great. Even for hard spices like cumin seeds... http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Articles/Unique-Cooking-Tools-641/suribachis.aspx Throw the whole pan into the oven under the broiler until the skin on the tomatoes blisters and turns black. If the tomatoes are the cherry type they will be finished at this point but if you are using other tomatoes flip them over and blacken the other side... the jalapeno too, because this makes it super easy to skin. While you are waiting use the mortar and pestle grind up a pinch each of cumin seeds and dried oregano. Mush the roasted and peeled jalapeno{seeded if you want} ( or chipotle) and garlic cloves into the spices until you have a smooth paste. Then I slip the skins off of the tomatoes and throw them into the mix as well ( my huge mortar and pesltle is my favourite kitchen appliance. i even leave the salsa in it to serve it up.) and mash it up until you have something that resembles salsa. I throw in a half of an onion finely diced, a handful of fresh chopped cilantro, a capful of apple cider vinegar and a pinch of good salt.
I love this salsa. Not quite a fresh salsa and not quite a cooked one... a good in between traditional tasting one! Best of all an easy and yummy way to use up those bags of tomatoes sitting at the bottom of your freezer.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Arrgg!

I really am still around! With all of the spinning I was doing I decided that it would only be practical if I taught myself to knit.( knitting meaning more than a scarf!) All I knew how to do was to knit and pearl. In the past month I made myself a lovely pair of socks and I handspun some wool and made my hubby a beautiful celtic knot type of cabled hat. I didn't go into it easily! I even had to read a pattern graph thingy
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter09/PATTknotty.php
It turned out really nice but the camera just doesnt want to show the cables properly. I am pleased with myself though... I no longer hate knitting! Good thing... as it takes hours and hours and hours of my time! The fact that it has been raining pretty much non stop over the past month helped things along as well.
I really mean to write more often... things are interesting around here and there is no shortage of things to write about. Just got distracted for a bit!