Getting the Garden Going

 Last weekend my friend, Kjersten and I spent the morning at the Home and Garden Show at the local expo center.  We had a great time oooohing and ahhhhing over all the fun things we wanted to do to our houses this spring!  

I came home itching to get my garden going and started making some serious plans.

 This is how I spend a Saturday night, who knew married life would be this thrilling?  

I decided to ditch the cucumbers this year.  I've tried it two years in a row without even a smidge of luck, so I give up.  Thankfully, there is a local farm stand nearby where I can pick up some pickling cukes for summer snacking.

Have you ever made Bread and Butter Pickles?  SO EASY!  And they taste amazing!  I can't wait to make these again this summer!

I am making some extra space for zukes and a few more Roma tomatoes.  I love making all the fresh salsa and sauces to can.  I've pretty much got it down pat and although it is a lot of work, I almost find it relaxing to do. 

We worked together as a family last Saturday getting the garden boxes ready to go and prepping the soil. 

 We found that our one box with no bottom did twice as well as the one we built with a bottom.  So the boys took over the job of drilling in drainage holes for that.  

And if you find that you are not up for building your own from scratch, Sam's Club has some really great square foot garden box kits right now that are a cinch to put together.

 Boys + tools = pure happiness.  It starts young!

   So far we've only planted spinach, carrots and our bush and pole beans.  Dan built me an awesome trellis last year but we planted the peas late so they never really took off that well. 

At least the place was looking WAY better than it was last year!  

I wouldn't say Mel would be proud by any means, but at least the patio doesn't look nearly as bad.  I was glad I put the garden to bed last fall better than I have in the past!

Other patio plans include building either new steps or a deck out to the backyard and sprucing up the place a bit.  I'm so happy spring is finally here!  

How about you, do you grow a garden at all?  

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Pinterest Impossible #2

Our Labor Day weekend plans were pretty low key.  Dan decided he was 20, not 40 a few weeks ago and had an incredible time water skiing up at Deer Creek.  He did amazing!  

What was not amazing was the muscle pulled in his back that made him miserable for the 2 weeks afterward!  

He's much better but still not good for a big project like building our closet like I had hoped - so I stuck with canning while he took the kids swimming this weekend!

I love our local farm stand.  And seriously - the farmers are hot.  Any guy who can run a tractor gets bonus good looking points in my book.  The tomatoes were on sale, $12 for a 20# box and I grabbed up three and got busy.

 

 This is my second attempt at following a Pinterest recipe.  I chose this one...

 from The Crazy Life.  I mean - the girl is just darling.  She lives in Idaho, is married to a farmer (we've talked about the cute boy factor there) and cans her little heart out.  She's pretty much living my dream except there is no pool on her property and I'm not sure how close she is to a Target.  Other than that...she seemed credible so I followed two of her recipes to a "T." 

I went ahead and used my own salsa recipe that we know and love.

Tangy Spaghetti Sauce for Canning 
-3 medium onions, chopped
-2 cups green bell peppers, chopped
-1 cup banana peppers, chopped (use Anaheim if you can't find these - about the same heat)
-2 pkg. fresh sliced mushrooms
-4 cloves minced garlic
-16 cups tomatoes, peeled and chopped
-3(12oz) cans tomato paste
-1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
-3 tablespoons brown sugar
-1 tablespoon dried oregano
-4 teaspoons canning salt
-2 teaspoons dried basil
-1 teaspoon black pepper
-1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
-2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
-1/2 teaspoon cumin
Add all ingredients to stock pot. Heat until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered for about 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally. Fill clean, sterilized jars within ½” of top. Put on tops and tighten. Process for 35 minutes for quart jars in water bath. Serve over pasta.

Homemade Canned Pizza Sauce 
Combine in blender:
-2 large onions, quartered
-4 cloves garlic
-3 Tbs. olive oil
-2 Tbs. lemon juice
-a bit of tomato juice to help blend
Blend until smooth. Add to:
-25-28 tomatoes, peeled and pureed in blender
-1 tsp. pepper
-3 Tbs. brown sugar
-2 Tbs. parsley
-1 Tbs. oregano
-1 Tbs. basil
-1 tsp. rosemary
-1 tsp. celery seed
-2 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. garlic powder
-1/2 tsp. summer savory (Utah friends, Harmons carries this in a small pkg - produce section)
-1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
-3 large cans tomato paste
Combine all ingredients in large pot on stove. Simmer for about 3-4 hours until moisture is cooked out and sauce thickens. When sauce is done, transfer to jars and seal. Process for 25 minutes in a hot water bath.

 

I ended up with over 50 jars of pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce and salsa and it is DELICIOUS!  

So glad I found her pin and followed her recipes! 

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Homemade Summer Salsa

I used to hate August - it was such a blah do nothing month.  

Now I love it - the kids are back in school and I have been spending a lot of time experimenting in the kitchen canning veggies from my garden.

My favorite thing to make is summer salsa!  

With Dan and Greg loving it, it doesn't last for long around our house so I usually end up making at least 2-3 batches. 

I have tried several recipes but our favorite by far is my sister-in-law, Mindy's recipe.  Her family should write a cookbook they are such great chefs!

Mindy's Summer Salsa

1/2 bushel tomatoes, peeled and quartered 

(about 30#, I like to use a variety of toms for a better tasting salsa, Cherokee Purples, Big Boy, Romas, Early Girls, etc)

2 red peppers

2 green peppers

6-8 anaheim peppers

 4-6 jalapenos (or less if you would like it mild)

2 med onions (I mix 1 yellow and 1 red)

6 cloves of garlic.

Grind all of the veggies in the food processor and add to tomatoes. 

1/2 to 3/4 cup salt

1 T oregano

4 T cumin

 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup cider vinegar

2 (12oz) cans tomato paste.

Simmer 3 to 4 hours (to the consistency of your liking) some yummy add ins..... I always use.. 4-5 tomatillos, lime juice (about 1/4 cup) and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. 

I'll have to write a separate post on how to actually can this - it's fairly time consuming but well worth the work involved! 

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Bread and Butter Refridgerator Pickles

 I was so excited to learning how to pickle last summer 

(I'm such an old lady - but it sounded like something cool to try!)

Except my cucumber plants didn't cooperate and I only got 1 horribly disfigured cucumber. 

Sad.

So this year I planted a whole lot more - they still aren't doing the best, but I was able to finally make a small batch of bread and butter refrigerator pickles. 

Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles

• 5.5 cups sliced pickling cucumbers (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1.5 tablespoons kosher or pickling salt
• 1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion (I used regular)
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds (or 1/8 teaspoon celery salt, in a pinch)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

Combine cucumbers and salt in a bowl. Cover with a thin tea towel and chill 1.5 hours. Or, if you are like me, get busy doing other things and just leave them in the fridge overnight.  Rinse cucumbers well in a colander, to remove salt. Drain well. Return cucumbers to the bowl along with sliced onion.

Combine sugars, vinegars, seeds and turmeric in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour over cucumbers and onions. Let sit at room temperature for one hour. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours and up to 2 weeks.

Makes approximately 4 cups of DELISH pickles

You will die.  They are SO good!

 Salting them helps withdraw the water from the cucumbers so they have a nice "crunch" to them.

 Drain well....

 Vinegar on the stove - this goes so quick.  I love that it's not a huge project but you still get a great finished product from your garden!

 Mixing in the vinegars..and then let it all soak together!

If you try this out, let me know what you think!

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