Friday, September 11, 2009

Voilà -- salsa!



Another (very) late night, and another job done. Thirteen quarts of black bean & corn salsa. This is more than I anticipated. The recipe called for 8 pounds of tomatoes, and I figured I had about three times that many sitting on my table, so I decided to triple the recipe. The recipe also called for 15 oz. of canned beans. Stupid me, never having cooked with dried beans before, measured out three pounds of DRIED beans and set them out to soak. Eight hours later, I had about six pounds of beans. So I ended up with lots and lots of salsa.

Better too much than too little, right?

I also used four packages of hubby's frozen corn and eight cups of chopped onions, five cups of chopped bell peppers and as many jalapeno peppers as I had on hand (about fifteen). Mix in a little tomato paste, garlic, cumin, vinegar, pepper and salt and voilà-- salsa!

Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Kathy are here this weekend to help celebrate Graham's sixth birthday. We'll play games in the afternoon and have a homemade school-bus cake in the evening after opening presents. Graham's requested birthday dinner consists of spaghetti with Italian sausage, lettuce salad with lots of hard boiled eggs, and stir-fried baby corn with zucchini. Could have been a lot worse, I guess. At least he wanted lots of veges.

4 comments:

Erin said...

LOL on the measurement of the dried beans...I would have done the same thing! I think children steal all our brain cells when they are born :)
Looks yummy!

Mama Pea said...

By that little six year old's birthday menu, I'd say you be raising him up right! What better way to expose wee ones to how good food can (and always should, but sadly, does not) taste than to raise them on fresh, homegrown, right-from-the-garden and/or homestead food.

Kudos to you for all the wonderful canning and freezing you're getting done. It's hard work.

Maple Lawn Farm said...

Oh, that salsa looks delicious!

Jo said...

Hi Erin! Hmm, perhaps my children have stolen all my brain cells. Although there are days where I'd swear my kids didn't have a brain cell between them! Then again, I'm sure there are days where they think that about me ...

Hello Mama Pea -- Yes, Graham is a great vegetable eater. He even had seconds on boiled cabbage tonight at dinner. I love it! Just wish my other two boys loved veges as much. They are pretty good, but they draw the line at cabbage and zucchini!

Thanks again for the lovely comments!

Hi Tammy -- Good to hear from you again. Yes, it was delicious, if I do say so myself! We ate some of it yesterday -- spread a layer of cream cheese in a pie plate, poured some salsa over it, then put shredded cheddar cheese on top and popped it under the broiler for a few minutes. Made an awesome chip dip. Thanks!