Sunday, August 6, 2006

Homemade Salsa & Sunday Dinner

Just in case some of my loyal readers have been wondering what I've been doing lately, here's my proof that I've been doing something constructive and not just goofing off. There has been some goofing off just to be completely truthful here, but I still got all my grocery shopping done today, dinner and supper cooked and made and canned 10 pints of my homemade salsa. My tomatoes were starting to get spotty so I needed to do something with them before they got too far gone to use. I wouldn't want them to get rurnt on me, LOL. This salsa is about as simple as it gets. It's a bit time-consuming chopping all the ingredients by hand, but it's well worth it. I am one of the half-dozen people on the planet who don't own a food processor, unless you consider the two accessories on the ends of my arms as food processors. I would love to have one, but it just hasn't happened so far. I do have a blender, but I don't like the way it liquefies everything while at the same time leaving chunks as big as my fist. The results are not satisfying to me at all, hence the hand chopping. If any of the salsa survives until this winter, it will surely be appreciated then. There's nothing quite like opening a jar of summertime garden stuff, preserved and put up by your own hands. It always tastes better in the winter when fresh stuff is hard to come by, and store bought canned stuff just isn't the same.

It's Sunday again, and for those who want to participate, share what you're doing for Sunday Dinner (Lunch to you non-Southerners). If you're cooking, what's for dinner? If you're eating out, where? Just share your menu/plans in the comm
ents. It's a simple dinner for us today. I bought a whole ham and had the shank half sliced to fry for sandwiches. That's what we're having for dinner today. The butt half I'll either boil or bake for another meal. The very end of the shank portion the butcher cut up for me. Guess what that'll be used for? Yep, it'll go in pinto or soup beans (Great Northern beans to you non-Southerners again) and to season green beans or purple hull peas. Lots of uses for that kind of good stuff. Anyway, we might have some of that homemade salsa and some chips to go with our fried ham sandwiches, some of my homemade pickles and sliced homegrown tomatoes. And whatever else I can dig up that sounds good at the time. You never know around here what might be on the menu from one meal to the next.

Okay, that's it for me today. May God meet all your needs today, and may you be blessed with family and friends that you love and who love you.

27 comments:

TJ said...

leftover crockpot chicken and dressin'...lmbo!!!
also left over naner puddin'...oops wait I think hubby has been into that all weekend...oh my goodness!!!
Have a great Sunday Diane!!!
Love you!!
:-D

Barb said...

You've been busy, Diane. I love the way you're canning everything - it's almost a lost art any more.

I have a gorgeous 12-cup Cuisinart food processor. It'll do everything but fold the laundry for me. And I never use it. Well, hardly ever. I use the food processors at the end of my arms, too. There's something very satisfying about doing all that dicing and chopping by hand.

Supper? I'm thinking hamburgers on the grill, baked beans and fries. Easy easy. Summer's coming to a close and although we grill year round, hamburgers on the grill just don't taste the same in January as they do in August. You know?

I'm saving my energy for that 100-post thing I have to do. I'm nervous - I've done 96 posts so it's got to happen this week. I can't begin to imagine how I'm going to come up with 100 things about myself that won't put everyone into a permanent coma.

xoxoxo

Susie said...

Your salsa looks so pretty all lined up there in bottles. I don't can anymore, but you're right, there's a real satisfaction home canning!
Sundy dinner for us:
Shredded BBQ Chicken on Whole Wheat Buns
Coleslaw
Baked Beans
Sliced Fresh Tomatoes w/ fresh basil
Have a wonderful Sunday and a week full of blessings :-)

Carole Burant said...

Diane, you're a girl after my own heart...I also don't own a food processor and would rather do all my chopping by hand for my canning anyway:-) I love canning and pickling and like you say, there's nothing like opening a jar, knowing that you did it all yourself! My tomatoes aren't ready yet so it will be a couple of weeks before I can start canning them. You have been a busy bee...keeps you outta trouble that way! hehe Set another plate, I'm comin' over for dinner!!! Hugs xoxox

Anonymous said...

I have a question? Does a BIL rate a reply to a comment made earlier??????

momteacherfriend said...

I love you...chopped by hand. You now how to get it done. I would seriously buy you a food processor if you would use it...just let me know! I could have miss sue deliver it. She will be up in a few weeks. Woo Hoo!

Does your salsa still have a fresh taste after the boil for the canning? I have been wondering. I love my salsa and have never tried canning it.

Brenda said...

We had soup and sandwiches at Panera Bread. Mine was a Smokehouse Turkey panini, Carl had the turkey and artichoke, and the kids had french onion soup in sourdough bread bowls. Yumm!

Your salsa looks good. Canning is one thing I've never learned to do, but my grandmother always did.

Big Mama said...

I love making homemade salsa. What do you put in yours? It looks delicious!

I had a handful of Chex Mix for lunch today. How sad is that! I'm still figuring out what I'm going to fix for dinner.

Girl Raised in the South said...

Diane, Sarah and Chris kept Caiden with them at the hospital, I came home from an entire day away, fed, bathed and rocked Grayson, then zapped canned chow mein. That's it - my version of Sunday dinner, pitiful sounding but I actually enjoyed it, while catching up on blog posts. Yours sounds better, much better.

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Tammy,
Hope your Sunday was good, too. :-)

Love ya,
;-)

Connie,
Hope your Dad was up to an outing and you had a great time together. :-)

Barb,
Your supper sounds great. It's too hot to grill here unless you have shade, which I don't.

You'll do great with your 100th post. I can't wait to read it. ;-)

Sue,
Yum, that sounds good! :-)
Yep, I love to can and freeze stuff.
Have a good week, Sue, and blessing to you, too. :-)

Pea,
I like to do small batches of stuff by hand, but big amounts can be so timeconsuming! I may just take MomTeacherFriend up on her offer of a food processor! :-)
Come on over, there's always enough for one or two more. :-)

Anonymous BIL,
I called you, okay?? LOL ;-)

MomTeacherFriend,
I'll email you just as soon as I finish answering my comments, my friend. :-)

Brenda,
Your dinner sounds delicious!!

And canning is not that hard to do, especially if you have a good canning book with clear directions. Or a friend willing to help you learn. :-)

Big Mama,
My salsa has tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, onion, garlic, vinegar, salt and sugar. That's all. You can add cilantro to it after you open it, but not to can it. Cilantro doesn't can well, it goes all strong and bitter. Icky!

Hope your supper was good. :-)

Dean Dean,
Everything is going fine here. We miss you, too. Come visit when you can, and I'll tell everybody what you said. Love you, too, and hope to see you soon. Blessings, darlin'.

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Bev,
We must have been posting at the same time. ;-)

I actually like canned chow mein every now and then. I douse it with plenty of cayenne pepper for flavor. :-)

I got your email about Addison and read Sarah's blog, but I haven't commented on it yet. I'll get back over there soon.....It's ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL NEWS about Addison!! I am just tickled that she's doing so well and hopefully going home on Monday!! Praise the Lord!! I know you and Mom and Dad are so relieved and thankful. Now to deal with her kidney issues.....God will be faithful in that, too. :-)

Paulette said...

Hello Diane, Happy Sunday and Happy cookin!!
Well we went out after church today and had fahitas at Don Pablos for lunch. My kids were both gone at supper so my adopted sis and I went to Spring Creek barbeque and had a yummo brisket sandwhich.
Your salsa looks awesome.
Have a blessed evening.

Dick said...

Well, I sure don't cook like that but I did have a good weekend. My older son came up Fri with his two kids and we spent the weekend together here. Fri was BBQ on the deck. Yesterday we spent a few hours & lunch at Jungle Playland, then to the mall theater to see "Monster House." Today my grand daughter went to church with me, then we met B & J at Starbucks for our daily mocha & luke warm hot chocolate. Then lunch on the deck at home & swimming in my park pool. After that they headed home but I sure enjoyed the time they spent with me.

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Hi, Paulette,
I love Mexican and barbeque both. Sounds good to me. ;-)
Have a good evening and a great week. :-)

Dick,
You had a full weekend, didn't you? I love Starbucks! I like just black coffee and Frappacino's, among many, LOL. ;-)
Hope your week is great, my friend. ;-)

Faith,
Sometimes I'm tempted to run away from home. Georgia would look pretty good at times, LOL. ;-) Keep that room ready, you never know.....I'd be willing to cook for my keep, how about it? :-)

Granny said...

My proessor must be 20 years old by now and still hanging in there. I use it for big chopping jobs and sometimes for onions (they tear my hands up although they didn't used to - age I guess).

It's a really simple one - no bells and whistles. It slices, chops, and grates which is all I ever need.

Addie said...

Diane, I don't think Faith is the only one who would offer up their guest room to have your culinary expertise around. I always get hungry when I come here.

I had plans to try and bake those cookies this weekend, but when the AC went out, so did plans to bake. I'll let you know when I make them. They sound so good!

Greeneyes said...

Diane,

please excuse (slurp)me while I wipe the drool (slurp) off my chin~
my oh my , you salsa ,it sure looks tasty,,,,wait ,,,,,,I HAVE CHIPS. haha . you are a talented woman arent you ! I love making things like that , I make chow,which is a cabbage/onion/tomatoe pickled/mustardy/ thingy.;
]I just cant find the time . I need to be closer so I can raid your pantry and then invite you for dinner/supper:}
yum yum
oh and we had an unusal sunday supper last night not typical(for here) but delicious
homemade giant megga lean bbq'd cheese hamburgers . loaded , fried onions two types cheese ,etc they are so huge and juicy,there is no room for fries or o. rings , squishy hugs
greeneyes

Jeana said...

Your tomatoes might not be rurnt, but with all that cooking I think your husband might be. :-)

Dawn said...

It's Monday, but I didn't get here yesterday. We had a pork tenderloin that I marinated, and hubby did it up right on the grill. We had mashed potatoes and gravy, fresh beans (from the produce department, not my hard), crescent rolls (not homemade, though mine are LOTS better!), and ice cream and cookies for dessert. Simple and delicious - both kids, spouses, and 2 grandkids were here. Total wonderful chaos!

I have to get down to Arkansas one of these days and sample some of your delicious stuff!

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Hmmm, it is Tuesday as I comment, so I need to think back !!! Sunday we didn't have lunch, as we were stuck in a theatre with no shop to buy drinks or nibblies, watching a dance concert. Goodness, was my stomache grumbling by the time we got home after 4pm (we arrived there at noon !!).
Your salsa looks and sounds sooooo yummy, and the interesting food and recipes you share are great. It is an amazing world we live in, where everyone lives so differently, yet we are all the same in so many ways.
Hope your week is going well.
Take care, Meow

Brenda said...

You had the same idea I did - to make buttons for Addison and Amy, too. Great minds think alike!

Anonymous said...

hey D! oh my goodness.....

i have chips here too!! so i want some of that salsa to0...

haha. greedy nashe. it looks yummay! or maybe..i'm just hungry?

nah, must be the former!

_Nashty_

Merle said...

Hi Diane ~~ Your salsa looks brillant and I hope I can find your recipe.
Thank you for leaving comments and this address which I will visit again as well as your recipe blog. I just
love the hydrangeas at the top and also your flowers here and there.
Clever lady !! Take care, Merle.

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Granny,
Hey, if it still works, that's better than shelling out a bunch of money for a new one.
Thanks for dropping by. :-)

Addie,
I love to cook, and it shows. My husband has gained 60 lbs. in the almost 21 years we've been married, and I weigh 300 lbs. Honestly. I should lose some weight, but it's really hard with my arthritis to get any excercise, so I have to starve myself. I don't do well with starving myself. :-)

I don't blame you the least little bit not baking without any air conditioning. I despise being hot and sweaty. I'd rather be in pain than be too hot. Really. :-)

Green Eyes,
I make chow chow occasionally, too. I don't care for it, but everybody else likes it. Not my thing. And if you were closer you could raid my pantry any time. Although I'd probably offer the stuff to you before you needed to go looking for it, LOL. ;D

Your burgers sound great! I love grilled stuff of all kinds. :-)

Jeana,
Yep, he's pretty rotten! ;D

Dawn,
Like I said above, I love grilled stuff! Sounds great!

And come on down and we'll see what we can get into. ;-)

Mountain Mama,
Your dinner sounds delicious! I left you a comment on your blog about the salsa, and I think I'll just put the recipe in my next post since so many have commented and asked about it. :-)

Meow,
Your Sunday was interesting! It's Tuesday night as I answer your comment, and so far my week is going great, thanks. Hope yours is, too. ;-)

Brenda,
We've already emailed about the buttons. ;-)

Nashe,
I left you a comment on your blog. It's great to see you commenting here. I've missed you lately. I know you're busy with school, but I still miss you. ;-)

And according to Jessica and Jason, her boyfriend, the salsa is pretty good stuff. ;-)

Merle,
I'll post the recipe in my next entry on my blog. Thanks for visiting, and for your sweet words about my blog.
Come back anytime, Merle, and welcome. :-)

Nashe^ said...

yeah D.... school really is aint no joke now.

But hey, i may not leave a comment but i still read the posts aiite! Yeap yeap...u just gotta know that i still drop by practically evrydae. hahahkkzz..

and i bet there's no more jars of lick-alicious salsa left...hhuhu!

Diane@Diane's Place said...

Nashe,
I hope things get better at school for you, and in with da boyz, too. :-)

Only a few jars of the salsa left, but if I can get more tomatoes and peppers I'm gonna make some more. It seems to be a big hit around here this summer. :-)

Thanks for stopping by, it does my heart good to see your comments, even if it's just a short one. ;D

Judith said...

Diane, When I saw your peach preserves, I headed to a store and at least bought fresh peaches. And now the salsa. Looks so good. I'll bet you know how to make chow-chow too. Granny's beans or peas and real cornbread weren't bad either.