Salsa

With an abundance of tomatoes, I taught Molly to make Aunt Judy's salsa.  

She caught on quickly and wanted to make more to sell. Yet being the realist she is, remembered it would never work. "We can't sell food because we don't have two drains on our floor."

I can't wait to see what she grows up to be.

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Judy’s Salsa (Double this for class)

Makes 7-8 pints

8 quarts tomatoes, skinned and quartered  Equals 26 cups chopped tomatoes (chopped in blender)  3 - (8 cup measuring bowls plus 2 cups)

6 medium onions, chopped (Equals 3 cups chopped)

8 jalapenos peppers, chopped with seeds 

1-2 green bell peppers, chopped (Equals 1-½ cup chopped green pepper

⅓ cup salt

¼ cup vinegar

1 tbsp black pepper

1 tbsp cumin

2 (6 oz) cans tomato paste

Chop tomatoes into chunky pieces.  Add other ingredients except paste.

Cook until mixture is bubbling, stir often.  

Add tomato paste.

Bring to a boil.

As you are filling the jar, strain mixture through a colander to get rid of extra juices.

I strain a soup ladle full in a colander when I get some of the extra juice off I quickly spoon the salsa out of the colander and into the hot jar.  This way you can regulate how much juice you want in your jar.  You will have a lot of juice at the end of the batch.  You can discard. (I'm saving for Chili)

Hot water bath 20 minutes for pints and 30 for quarts.  

Day 1

Scald and peel tomatoes.  Then refrigerate.

Pulse tomatoes till chunky (3-5 pulses).  Keep all the juice. Pour tomatoes into the pot.

Chop the green pepper and onion.  Place in blender and pulse with enough water to cover (makes pulsing easier)

Then drain the water off.  Let set in a strainer a bit to drain all the drips when all are in a big pot and chopped.

Add salt, vinegar, black pepper and cumin.

Stir together as you heat.  (Will burn if you don’t stir)

When it just starts bubbling, add the tomato paste.  

Cook for 1 more minute at a soft boil.  

Drain in a colander before jarring.

Do not use aluminum.  Only stainless steel or glass.

Day 3.  Prep jars (sanitize in dishwasher).  Boil lids for 10 minutes.

Paper towel the jar lid to be sure the lip is clean and hot.  

Screw rings on the hot jars and put in a hot water bath.  Water should be at least ½ inch above jars. Place on rack inside pot.  Canner lid needs to be off set to vent steam.  

(Not boiling- just lightly simmering.  No bubbles breaking the surface)

Place on cooling rack on counter and cool 24 hours.  Check for sealings.  

Day 4.  Cool, bag and freezer.  Strain off some juice first.  Double bag.  

Taste the mixture when hot, then again with cold.  

Cooking, Needlepoint and Dogs

You can tell the air conditioning is set too low when everyone's wearing a sweatshirt on the hottest day of the year.

Molly had the itch to cook over the past week.  

BY HERSELF.

Brownies from scratch straight out of the Hershey's Cookbook.  

On a side note, you can see Maisie trying to gum some cut-up homemade hot pockets in the photo.  

Her teeth are starting to feel a little better.

And guess why our Basil plant has been wiped out.

She tackled pesto this week.

As well as the homemade hot pockets mentioned above.

Maisie doesn't share the same cooking enthusiasm, but for only $4.50 at the Dollar Store has taught herself embroidery. 

The 2 kids who still like to hang out with Mom and Dad

And Jasper just wishes he could be like us humans.

All About The Teeth

What is it about our family and teeth right now?

I'm starting to really understand the song, "Don't Blink"

Well, it turns out I blinked, and apparently my littles aren't that little anymore.  

Check out those baby teeth!

The very first tooth is always significant.  Whether it's coming in or falling out.  

Once those big teeth come in, it seems their whole face changes.

These have been in for quite some time, but as beautiful as her smile is, her bottom teeth are crowded.

So, we decided to make her smile even 'beautifuller'

She's not great with pain and insists she can't each much besides puff corn and ice cream.

Uh-huh.  Nice try darlin'. 

Let me scramble some eggs for you while you mash some banana with your tongue. 

In 2 years these brackets and bands will come off and once again I have a feeling her whole face will change to resemble the woman she is becoming.

In the meantime, I'm going to try not to blink.

Hot July

We've reached the sticky part of summer where everyone decides they're bored.  

The July humidity has settled in, the yard is thick with baby toads, spiders and chiggers, everyone is tan and day-long grazing is in full swing.  Maisie figured out how to make Chick-fil-A sauce, Ross has taken up fishing, Jayson fixed my hacked Facebook account for me and Molly screamed for her life after seeing a mouse as we scooped out the goat shed for the final time.  

Mack's wisdom teeth are out and the poor guy is either healing slowly, or he's milking deliveries of food and meds to him in bed every 3 hours.  I don't think I'll ever forget spoon-feeding him a banana smoothie in the Aldi's parking lot after his surgery.  Totally took me back to my CNA days at the nursing home.

He's making plans to move out in less than a month and I couldn't be happier or more excited for him.  Over the past 6 years, we got to watch him grow, mature, and thrive under unusual circumstances. 

He's already exceeded my expectations and I know he's far from done.

So Alive

 

Before Maisie (aka) Sugar Plum was born, I began a "Baby Site" as an everlasting love letter to my kids.  I recall my very first post was about Ross trying to bring a dead bird back to life.  I think back to all the experiences of having, adopting, and raising kids since that first post and having Mike steadily by my side through it all.

And I can't remember all those moments.  Blame it on age or the wine, it doesn't matter.

This is why I continue.  Maybe if I ever lose my memory, Mike or the kids will read some of my words back to me over and over again and I will again feel "so alive" if even for a moment...

Long before I was married I went on a work trip to Manhatten, Kansas.  Not exciting and I have no clue what it was about.  The older woman I was traveling with was probably ancient, hovering around 40.  She was going on and on about her kids and recent divorce.   She made a statement I don't think I'll ever forget.  It had something to do with how the trials of life make you 'feel alive'.  Even when things are tough- they sure do make you feel ALIVE.  

Jasper hasn't gotten any good bites in lately.  It could be partly due to his training classes.  

While we were in Alaska, he "lived" with Nancy, the dog trainer, and groomer. She's

assertive, experienced, and refuses to take any of his crap. 

Just what the doctor ordered.

Last weekend was the New Virginia Tenderloin Stand, which is one of Cafe 35's Hallmark events.

I spent days lining students up to volunteer to take a shift.

I didn't have to beg Maisie and her bestie Amelia too hard as they and Molly are my right arms at these gigs.

However, some boys showed up and Molly wasn't having it.  She wanted all the jobs and these boys "sucked"

I tried to keep her temper tantrum discreet, but these boys caught on quickly.  Before I knew it they made a cocky remark to Molly, Molly reacted and it was on like Donkey Kong. 

Not physically thank God- cause I'm afraid Molly would have hurt them.

Molly sat on a bench crying hysterically and begging me to 'kick these boys out of the tenderloin stand," as I encouraged and praised the student's hard work and customer service skills. 

This went on for over 2 hours.

Sometimes I wonder just how Bad-Ass God thinks I really am.

'Cause I'm legitimately starting to question my abilities.

Back at home Molly and 2 friends organized a lemonade stand.  

After 3 hours they raised $104.

I realized that's more than a substitute teacher makes in a day at our school.

Just thinking out loud...

And because weekends aren't often memorable unless an ER visit is included, Molly dropped the sheet metal spikes of her "Molly's Fainting Farms" sign on her toe Sunday afternoon while she was putting it in the new storage building.

She feared her toe was "dangling" off her foot and would not let us touch it.  

Fortunately for Accident Insurance, Mike and I didn't hesitate to take her to the ER to make sure her little piggy would survive the injury. 

S

Turns out the puncture didn't affect any tendons or bones and was nothing some bacitracin and a bandaid wouldn't fix. 

Sort of embarrassing?  yes.

But did she feel especially loved by her mom and dad?  yes. 

And at the end of the day, what else really matters?

We received a message our goats are thriving in their new pasture and keep near each other.  

Although we will miss them, our goat stage has ended.  

Our goat years will always hold a delicate place in our hearts as they brought responsibility, unpredictability, and joy to our family.

I don't know why I'm posting this photo. 

 I came across it and thought "wow- my bios are some serious sniffers.

Covid 4th of July

Maisie asked why I don't blog anymore.  She and her sister have spent countless hours reminiscing over stories and embarrassing photos on this blog.  The Boyd Babes page is apparently all the rage at the I-35 8th-grade lunch table. 

Well, I certainly can't let the fun stop there.

Where to start- how bout 4th of July weekend.  We were bummed to not attend the Green pond festivities but we didn't think Covid was invited to the party.  So we crashed in on Denny and Cindy instead.  Mike was naturally feeling some symptoms, but our other Covid patient was good-as-new the entire time.  

Oh, sweet Maisie.

Having just returned from Alaska - and a week that brought plenty of other surprises- I was looking forward to a weekend of calm.  Maybe a couple bottle rockets and snaps, reading a few chapters in my book, pairing some smoked salmon I picked up at Costco with boxed wine, and catching up on some Dateline podcasts while I walked the dogs. 

Molly, on the other hand, wanted to make up for not going to the Pond Party by keeping us constantly busy.  Somehow we ended up at the Raccoon River beach twice.  This is where Maisie always confirms her attraction to non-white boys.  The water was cloudy, with spotty areas of foam, a cigarette butt, warm and cool spots, dogs, and a couple I questioned a conception may have been taking place.

But when the sun went down, we stood on our gravel road at the top of our drive in the darkness of a hot July night watching public firework displays erupt in the sky which seemed to reach across the counties, one dog at our feet with the other hiding in the garage basement completely terrified for his life as one of my daughters actually squatted and peed in the middle of the road during the show.

 We didn't get to celebrate at any big "parties" as many do over the holiday weekend, but the patio fires at Grandma and Papas, dog training, bug bites, sparklers, and a special "fountain firework" were our birthday gifts to America this year.

Maisie- can you make a normal face?

No, really.

Thanks.

Grandma teaching the girls how to 'waitress'

The smile I worked all weekend to see on her face.

Cutting the Stalk

Growing up I LOVED vegetables.  I was weird like that.  Brussels sprouts and asparagus were a few of my favorites.  I remember learning to trim asparagus from my mom.  I remember going to the patch of asparagus with a plastic grocery bag and paring knife, always being sure to cut at an angle under the dirt. When it was time to cook, I can still visualize the paring knife blade under her thumb as she taught me to 'feel when the stalk wants to cut easily'  Thats how you get the best asparagus texture.

We've reached that point with Mack.  He's applied to DMACC and was accepted this week. He and I looked at apartments and checked out the Business College.  

He's more than ready.  

In the words of a blogger I follow, "he's soiled the nest" and is ready for the next stage life has in store for him. 

I'm so, so happy and excited for him as I know he has the skills he needs to make his own life moving forward.

Tonight I taught Molly how to trim asparagus like my mom taught me. 

I couldn't help but recognize how quickly all my babes will be moving on... when they are ready and the stock cuts easily.