Home Made Salsa

Hi everyone.  First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for your nice words about Snacker!  I sure will miss her.  But I have been very busy taking care of the rest of the flock.  Whether or not any of the remaining 8 hens winds up having a personality like Snacker, remains to be seen.  They are doing well, with one in isolation until she is fully recovered.  More on that later.  First, let's make salsa.  I learned to make this salsa from my sister in law, Monica. She learned from her Dad, who was Mexican.  It is a family favorite.  I may do it a little different than she does, but it is basically just these few simple ingredients.   Here is what you will need.  Mind you, I always make up a big batch and share it, but you could certainly  halve this.  About 6 cans of stewed tomatoes.  I like to buy Mexican stewed tomatoes, but these can be hard to find, so any old stewed tomatoes works.  Even the store brand.  3 to 4 jalapeno chili peppers.  (Mine are from my garden)   You will wash these and steam them until fork tender in a saucepan with an inch or so of water.  Then remove from pan to cool.  A large bunch of cilantro. (also from my garden)  If purchasing at market, buy two bunches.  About 1 1/2 bunches of green onions.  1 fresh lemon.  Fresh garlic, or minced garlic in the jar, which is what I used today.  Fresh cracked salt and pepper to taste. And that is it!

Dump all of your tomatoes into your large Tupperware Bowl, circa 1979.  What?  You don't have a green, or harvest gold Tupperware Bowl from the 1970's?  Well, not to worry.  Any large bowl will do.  Using your hands (washed of course) squish the tomatoes through your fingers until they are evenly crushed.  Not too small, you will want it chunky.

Do a rough chop on your onions, and cilantro. Then dice your jalapenos.  If you don't want it very hot, remove some, or even all of the seeds.  Save them though until after tasting it to see if you want to add heat.

Add a big teaspoon of minced garlic if using the kind in a jar.  Or several minced cloves of fresh.  Squeeze the lemon juice into bowl holding lemon right side up so seeds don't fall into salsa.  Season with generous amount of salt and pepper.  

Stir and taste.

In this batch, I wound up putting more of the seeds from the jalapeno that I had set aside, into it to add heat.  I may be regretting that tomorrow, but it tasted just about perfect to me!!!   

Before I go, just a little chicken chatter.  I miss Snacker, ever so much, but the rest of the girls are doing okay.  The little B's, Ethel and Lucy are laying eggs again.  Ethel has become an escape artist.  She is flying out of the coop constantly.  There could be many eggs out there in the grove under trees for all I know!  They are all fattened up, with healthy looking combs and wattles and oddly enough, even though they are little B's, to the other chickens, they are as sweet as can be to me.  They follow me, and come when I call them.  And they love to run around the grove and free range for bugs and worms.  Here they are getting up to their roost for the night.

Little Mildred is in the isolation wing of the coop.  She was the second one of the babies to show signs of a cold or conjunctivitis.  I read online that you can treat the eyes with Neosporin with great results. So that is what I am doing.  HUGE improvement in only 24 hours!  But she will stay in iso til we return from our fishing trip in a few days.   Standing in her mash..How rude!!

The remaining 5 chicklets are in the main coop.  All doing great.  Ham is the head honcho.  Noah still insists she is a he.  And we are not convinced otherwise just yet.  It wouldn't surprise me to hear a cockle doodle doo any day now.  Here they all are at chow time earlier tonight.

Tonight while I was out watering, my neighbor Linda came over and told me that there is a huge hawk nesting in her yard.  I went over and we watched her with binos for the longest time.  We think it is a Cooper's Hawk. There are two fluffy babies in the nest.  She did not want anyone too close though.  Her husband had already been dive bombed for trying.  So we stood a respectable distance away.  I went home and got my telephoto lens.  She is a beauty!!! 

She and her mate are the reason why I have very few song birds this summer.  And no nesting bluebirds for the first time in several years!!!  Oh well.  They will be fun to watch too.
My little rest is over, and I have to go finish packing.  We leave bright and early tomorrow.   Our son Drew will be here holding down the fort and taking care of the farm.  I sure hope he doesn't forget to feed anyone or water the garden.  It is supposed to be near 100 all weekend!   I will be back in a few days with lots of photos, and fish tales.  Til next time......