I Had Forgotten How Sweet ...

... it feels to hold baby, see baby smile and hear baby sounds. I also got pooped on and puked on today. But I loved it! Here are some 6x4 prints I made for a little album. I can always adjust them to be 8x8 or 12x12 for a book of Baby's First Year later. Enjoy!

Ping!

Well, maybe I can post a little more often than monthly here on the blog. Like a mid-month, or something. We'll see. The weather has been so perfect recently. Ken planted Roma tomatoes and another kind; both are doing well. He brought in a huge pail of Romas in last evening, and I peeled them. Then today, two kinds of salsa. The first is how Ken's mom makes it, and I fell in love with it but never really made it myself. The Roma is perfect for this.

I made two batches and this is all that's left. Ken calls it "addicting," and I agree. Mom (and now me) puts the cut up tomato chunks in the food processor, together with some onion, 2 jalapenos, and some cilantro. She adds a little lime juice, and I had some so I added it too. Just a little salt, but not too much because we're really watching the salt for Ken. Okay, all the rest of those Romas? Made 21 pints of "The Best Salsa" today, with a full quart left over.

Gosh, it's a lot of work and some mess, but I do love to hear the lids pinging sealed. Music to our ears. Today's work was made easier due to a big bag of frozen jalapenos from a couple of years ago that were ready and waiting in the freezer. Anyway, my favorite recipe for canning salsa follows. I got it years ago from someone who shared it online:
12 c. chopped tomato
2 c. jalapeno peppers
3 c. chopped onions
2 t. cilantro
2 t. ground cumin
2 T. salt
2 T. red hot sauce
2 T. olive oil
8-10 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz. can tomato paste
1 T. black pepper (optional)
3 green peppers, chopped (optional)
Simmer for 1 hr. and then process for 1/2 hr. Run through blender (optional). I probably used too few onions today, and I threw in more cilantro than this too. Didn't have any extra green peppers today either. I have never run it through the blender. My 21 pints were about a triple batch, and I have a huge kettle and could cook it all up at once. Yum!

Sleptember

Ha! Silly title. I chose it 'cause it's September, and also 'cause I'm sleepy. The Labor Day holiday has begun, and Ken will soon be home from work (Saturday, works until 1 p.m.) I've been busy finishing my August Scrap-Last-Month layout this morning, but had to do an extra double page spread of course to include Scott Donald's first month of life here on this earth. Oops, he's home. Gotta run! Don't forget to click on the layout to enlarge it. Not sure the journaling is going to be legible though. I guess I still have some work to do, things to learn.