Early July Morning, Cocoa Beach, Florida

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Has Anyone Ever Frozen Salsa Instead of Canning?

We are very much blessed with a great garden this year. We have tons of tomatoes, cayenne peppers, jalapeno peppers, and green, yellow, red and orange bell peppers. I have a great salsa recipe and I also like to make guacamole. I would love to be able to enjoy these during the cold winter months. I'll just have to suffer with no guacamole, but as far as salsa goes, I know people can that all the time. I was wondering about freezing it though. So, I got online and started to investigate. Some say no and others say sure, it's fine. But one thing that everyone says, that it can tend to be a bit watery.

I have never cooked my salsa, but figured that if I was going to freeze it, I would need to cook it so the water will cook down a little. I used about 30 Roma tomatoes, 2 cayenne (ours are very, very hot this year for some reason), and about 4 very large banana peppers and onion from our garden. I also added cilantro, lemon juice, and garlic. It actually came out pretty good. I am now waiting for the salsa to cool so I can put into freezer bags.

We have also picked some huge green bell peppers. Tonight, I am planning on having stuffed peppers. For dessert--our fist cantaloupe. I do believe it is ripe enough. yeeee haaaa!

this is what I had left over after i made my salsa




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we will soon have some more tomatoes and peppers ready to be picked



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my salsa cooling down so I can freeze it

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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Bell Peppers As Big As Your Head!

When we lived in Muncie, IN there was a Mexican fast food restaurant whose logo was "Burritos as big as your head." And, yes they were that big. We've been watching one of our green bell peppers grow and grow and grow. Sadly, we had to pick it this weekend. As you can see, it just about is "as big as your head."

In addition to growing peppers, we have some cantaloupe that are ready to be picked. They aren't quite ripe enough to eat yet, but we think we needed to go ahead and pick them, so they won't rot on the ground. In a few days, they should be ripe enough to eat. We can't wait!

As far as the big bell pepper, I may just have to make some stuffed peppers. That one alone could probably feed two of us.

can't wait to dig into this!

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"farmer Bill" with his giant green pepper

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our giant bell pepper

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Friday, June 18, 2010

A New Driver

Today, my baby completed his Driver's Ed class. In the state of Louisiana, you can't even get your permit until you complete a class which includes so many hours in class and behind the wheel. Today, Benjamin came home from his last driving session with form in hand asking when he can get his permit. So, sometime next week, we will be headed to the DMV.

After the previous three children, you would think I am comfortable with him behind the wheel, but, no, I am not. This has been a real stress to me, as each of my four children have received the privilege to drive. For the most part, all of them are good drivers. I will have say my eldest son does have a bit of a lead foot. Anyway--here I go on my next adventure as my baby starts his driving career...I think not only him, but Mama needs a few prayers.

Monday, June 14, 2010

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Photography

I have always loved to take pictures. Before digital or computers even were thought to be in the home, I took many pictures. I had a cheap 110 film camera. There was nothing cheap about buying film and getting it developed though. So...I had to be very selective as to what I took pictures of.

Now in the day of digital, you can take a boatload of photos and if they don't turn out, then you just delete them and try again. I will have to say, the picture taking is not that hard, but the editing, well, that is a whole other story. Once I figure out the computer and program, I don't have a problem, but it is the process in getting the pictures on a dic and copied that I have a problem with. There are many programs you can use to edit, and all say they are easy to use. But...that is not true, unless, of course, you are Bill Gates.

For several years, I have had an inexpensive digital point and shoot. I have found, that I am actually pretty good at taking photographs, and I really enjoy it. I also love to scrapbook, but that is a whole other blog.

I decided several months ago to upgrade my camera. I purchased a Canon Rebel XSI. So far, I love it. I have a lot to learn, though. Last week, I had a friend get married. I had heard they were going low budget. I asked her who she was using as their photographer. They said no one. I had a great idea. I proposed to her that I would take the photos, and put them on a disc and give her the right to copy them. She was very happy, and so, Saturday, I went to the wedding, camera in hand. I had done some internet investigation on how to photograph a wedding, so I had a little idea as to what to do.

After the wedding, I came home and downloaded the pictures on to my computer. The next day, I did some editing. I had taken about 279 pictures, but only edited about 90 of them. The unedited pictures came out fine, and I will be putting them on the same disc. Now I have a dilemma. I am trying to figure out how to put them on a disc so I can take them to have some copied, and then give her the dics. I am soooo computer dumb....! Hopefully, I WILL figure this out.
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Bring Back The Fabric!

A few weeks ago, I was in the market for a piece of gold fabric for an activity with the young women at church. In our Parish, there are only two places to buy fabric. One place is a bit pricey, and so I headed to the other place--Wally World (WalMart). As I was searching for the perfect piece of fabric, I noticed everything was marked 50% off. I asked why, and was informed that they were getting rid of all their fabric, and that in a few days all left over fabric was going to be 75% off. I panicked! I could not believe my ears.

I changed my status on my Facebook to something like, "I can't believe WalMart is getting rid of all their fabric". Quickly, I received comments about this. Everyone was devastated. Some already knew about this, as their local WalMarts had already closed out all their fabric. I emailed WalMart about how disappointed we all were about this situation. The reply I got--they were sorry, but due to the fact most people are no longer interested in purchasing fabric, they felt that it was in the best interest of the customer to get rid of the fabric and replace it with something that the customer was more interested in. What are they talking about!? My sister can't even get fabric in her whole county. We are going to be down to one place in our parish, which is very pricey. I've lived in small towns where I actually would have to travel over an hour to get fabric. Sorry, WalMart, but I think you are doing an injustice to your customers. Believe it or not, there are still quite a few of us that purchase fabric on a regular basis.

PLEASE, WALMART, BRING BACK THE FABRIC!!!