Salsa time!

So. I love homemade salsa. It's easy to make and it's about a billion times better than...well, any other kind of salsa (except the fresh, raw kind I also make). Although I should add that I live in the Maritimes, where we're not exactly known for fantastic, authentic Mexican food, so I'm sure it's made different elsewhere. I don't care, because I love THIS stuff! ;) I thought I'd share the recipe, and do it in a fun way.

First, you need 12 cups of peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes. Look at these bad boys, straight from the Burtt family garden. Nom nom nom.



You also need a lot of garlic. Especially if you are like me, and love garlic.



Mmmm, green pepper. This wasn't in the original recipe, so I reworked it and made it with peppers. I can't have spicy salsa, so mild green peppers it is. One will do.



I'll admit that I love onions. I love the smell of them and the way they pack flavour into anything. Two large onions for this batch.



So, those are the veggies. The first thing I do is cover the tomatoes with boiling water. It'll split the skins and they'll slide right off. Let them sit in the water for a few minutes and then replace the hot stuff with cold water so you can handle them.


You need five cloves of garlic.


Mince those bad boys.


Chop up your onions to whatever size you want. I like my salsa reasonably chunky, so they're not miniscule. Your mileage may vary.


Same goes with the green pepper.


Peeled tomatoes lose a little of their appeal. ;) Seed them and chop them up. I chop them pretty haphazardly, because as I said, I like chunky salsa. Also? I'm lazy.


Dump all of the veggies into a pot. Lookin' good already, right?


Add 1T each of salt and pepper, 1 cup of lemon juice, a can of tomato paste, and a can of chilies and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes. Then add 1T each of oregano, cilantro, and cumin. You can adjust those measurements to taste. Generally I use fresh cilantro, but I forgot to get it, so dried it is.


Your salsa is ready to can! Pour it carefully into clean bottles and cover them.



Put them in a large pot of boiling water, cover, and process for 15 minutes.
Voila! Delicious, healthy, tomato-y, flavourful salsa. Enjoy!

Amy and her gorgeous kids.

My friend Amy (we've known each other since fourth grade) was visiting home from Alberta with her kidlets, so when we got together to catch up, I snapped some pictures of them. It was almost too much cute for me to stand. :) I hadn't taken any pictures of an infant (he is 5 months old) so it was fantastic practice for me. And the 5-year-old was pretty much the funniest, most interesting 5-year-old I know. I brought along my son and they played in the water for a good long time. Another of our friends joined us as well (along with her adorable kids), so I guess we made up for all missing our 10-year high school reunion!

Vacation!

I love getting away. It doesn't even have to be far. So when my husband suggested a quick overnighter to Fundy National Park, I jumped at it. It was the first time the three of us went somewhere alone. We had no agenda. We stayed in a little B&B, ate takeout from a roadside fish-n-chips stand, walked on the ocean floor at low tide, and played on a giant playground. It was incredible.

Two days later, my best friend-slash-cousin and I went to St. Andrews-by-the-sea for two nights. We stayed in a creaky old B&B that ended up being charming and sweet. We ate seafood and shopped in little stores and drank yummy lattes. We watched boats in the harbour and walked the length of Water Street many times. We dressed up and had dinner at the Algonquin. We ate candy and played cards and had a blast.

I miss both places, but I'm reminded of how much my own little province has to offer. We traveled no further than two hours away from here, and saw a whole new world.

Calamari in St. Andrews:


Moi on the rocks in St. Andrews:



Checking out the boats:
Sunset by the sea:

Boats in Alma at low tide:


Playing on the ocean floor:


It was a bit windy on the coast:


Waiting for our greasy but delicious takeout:

What a smile :)