Comment Confusion

For those of you who have commented on my site between the end of July and the start of this month, you may have noticed that I have switched back to the Blogger commenting system. I have to tell you, that I was completely happy with Disqus, but apparently Blogger did not reciprocate. You see, ever since I switched, I was trying to get my comments to sync from Disqus to Blogger, but it never happened. Disqus support tried many times, but Blogger kept denying them access to my blog. So, I am once again, unfortunately, back to using Blogger. I have to say that whenever I leave Blogger, I will be going back to Disqus.

Tangy Salsa Recipe

This recipe is for a large batch of tomatoes, if you have a much smaller harvest, you will need to halve or quarter this recipe. The addition of the vinegar, although added because I can this recipe, adds a tangy element to the fresh salsa. Even if you are making this to can, you really need to grab some nacho chips and try some fresh. It's awesome! Now, on to the recipe...

What you need...

• 40-50 tomatoes (comes out to around 8 quarts)
• 3 batches of green onions (12-15 individual plants. If you like a lot of green onions, add more. If you have any left over, you can always chop them up and add them to sour cream)
• Approximately 36-40 ounces of roasted Chile peppers (the cans come in various sizes, so we get a 28 oz can and a 12 oz can. You can add more or less, depending on your preferences) (We use mild peppers, but you can use hotter ones if you wish)
• 1 C. of white distilled vinegar (5% acidity)
• 1 Tbsp. of pickling salt

What to do...

• Core the tomatoes
• Doing it now is much easier than doing it after you have removed the skins. If you are unsure of how to do this, I have provided a short guide for you... How to Core Tomatoes
• Remove the skins from the tomatoes
• If you are unsure of how to do this, I have provided a short guide for you... How to Peel Tomatoes
• Cut the tomatoes into fourths and than eighths (you want to end-up with average-sized chunks)

• Tip: You will notice that the cutting board is resting inside a baking dish. This is to contain the large amount of tomato juice that is released while cutting (I just dump this into the bowl with the salsa)
• Place the chopped tomatoes in a Large bowl (We end up using two bowls)
• Thinly slice the green onions and add to tomatoes
• Dice the chilies and add to tomatoes
• Add vinegar
• Add salt
• Mix well
• Taste and adjust seasonings to your liking

If you are only interested in making a fresh salsa and plan to use this entire amount within a week or so, than you are done. The flavors will intensify over time. You can also do this step a day before the actual canning process; just keep the salsa covered and in the refrigerator.

If you plan to can the salsa, I will supply the instructions I use in my next article... Canning your Salsa

A Visit from Rocky Raccoon

Last night, we had an unexpected visitor come to our backyard and dine from our squirrel feeder...

Sorry about the quality of the photos, but in order to even be able to see him, we had to have a long exposure (almost 2 minutes. Yes, we have a cheap camera) on each picture. Since it was such a long exposure and Rocky (yes, I named him Rocky. Catchy, huh?) did not cooperate in remaining still, they are kinda fuzzy.