Salsa Garden

Hey, i know that i didn't post something awesome and patriotic for 4th of Ju-ly for ya'll and i'm sorry. I really am. I let you down? But listen, I know you had plenty to read, because every single blogger and their mom put up some kind of 4th of Ju-ly content for you to read. I'm still trying to work through it.

I've really slacked off lately, but work and sequential houseguests have kicked my butt. However, that's kind of what this post is about. I think last time I posted, I said that I wanted to serve homemade salsa to some of my houseguests. Well, guess what? I DID!

Not EVERY ingredient is from my 'lil 'ol garden, but some of them are. I used tomatoes, jalapenos, and cilantro from the garden, and I stripped it bare.

Thankfully, the tomatoes ripened right on time (that is, the Early Girls did)

(Does the Early Girl start to look a little bit wilted in these photos to you? I noticed it started looking wilted. Then one day when I watered it a million ants ran out of the container. I think the roots may be having some problems. It has not perked back up, sadly.)

The tomatoes off of this plant are not large, they are small. About the size of roma tomatoes. Which is perfect for salsa.



I had previously picked some to save them, so I had about four of them. I had to buy some more from the store to round out the recipe, because I wanted to make a biiiiiiig bowl. My homemade salsa is always a hit.

So, the recipe is:

Tomatoes: 8-10 romas preferable
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
Couple cloves of garlic, chopped (always use fresh)
1 Red onion, chopped
Several limes, squeeze to taste
Salt, add to taste

and 1 jalapeno, chopped up small, I prefer to keep the seeds in!


The jalapeno plant has just been growing crazy. I mean, if you want a dependable reliable crop from a plant, I suggest planting a little jalapeno plant. Take a look at this sucker.

Big peppers on the bottom, more growing on the top. Constant rotation of production.

For the salsa, don't underestimate the need for the salt. Or the fresh garlic. I usually use 3 big cloves. That's me, though, and there's never enough garlic in our house. Then there's the lime. If there is something missing, it's probably lime. The problem is that it makes your salsa watery - but what you want to do is pop it into the fridge tightly covered with saran wrap for a good amount of time (at least an hour) to let the flavors gel . . . . and when you serve it up you can use a slotted spoon to put it in a pretty dish, like I have here.

Don't mind the obvious stovetop placement, as I have found this is the one place in my house I can take decent food photos.

However, (back to the subject at hand), once all of the salsa is gone you will find that you and your compatriots will be scooping up the salsa juice in frenzy, desperation, and nostalgia as you reminisce about all the unbelievably delicious salsa that was in the big bowl only moments ago. That's why I recommend using Tostito Scoops as the proper chip for this salsa. So does my husband.

I don't mean to toot my own horn about my salsa recipe. It's just that a) people rave about it, b) i personally love it, and c) i didn't make it up. Some man in Costco or Sam's Club told me how to make salsa when he gave me a salsa maker in, oh, 1999 or something, and i did buy the salsa maker (some plastic thing with some weird blade) and fell in love with that salsa and have been making it ever since.

How many times can I type salsa in one post???

My Little Peppers and How They Grow

Coming up with titles for these posts is often an inside joke for myself. Today the title is patterned after a children's book called "Five Little Peppers and How They Grew," written by Margaret Sidney. The Peppers are a family of six, five children and their widowed mother, at the turn of the century. Extremely poor, starving, on the brink of death, and remarkably cheerful. I love books.

Anyway, this post is about MY peppers, which I have not posted about in awhile.

I've been lackadaisacal about posting updates on the pepper plants. I have three: a jalapeno, and an orange and yellow bell pepper. Or is one of them red? I can't remember. One is definitely orange. Anyway, since i posted a long time ago about the pest eating holes in the leaves, i've just left the subject alone. The plants were kind of wimpy and have been slow to develop.

The jalapeno had one lone pepper and that was it for awhile:
But all of a sudden the rest of the flowers dropped off and developed quickly into peppers:
That photo was taken on June 15. Now pay attention to the top of the plant where the newest peppers are developing.

Look at those hot peppers! Aiy-yai-yai! They're growing like hotcakes. whatever that means. Like the comics in the background?


Then we have the bell peppers. FINALLY they are growing
These are the orange bell peppers, I think. I can see five peppers beginning to grow - the really visible one by my hand and some other myriad tiny baby ones around the plant. I wonder how long it is going to take for them to grow and ripen?

Here is the red or yellow one, whichever it is:
And about four visible peppers developing on this plant so far. I wonder what tripped the development of the veggies on these plants? We have only begun having really hot days, and I know that the peppers are supposed to love sun and heat , , ,

The great thing about this is that soon I can make salsa from my own garden. Some of the cilantro has not completely bolted, the jalapenos are looking great, i can cheat with onions and garlic from the store, and if the tomatoes would just cooperate and ripen!
Because pretty soon we are going to just have green tomato salsa! My brother comes this weekend and i want to serve from the garden!