little things :: 5

This edition of 'little things' comes to you straight from my garden. One little thing I'm sure I wouldn't want to do without in my life is my garden-fresh tomatoes. Even though summer is shortly coming to an end, my tomato crop is still going strong. I've been cooking with them, canning them, making fresh salsa with them and putting them on sandwiches as often as possible. I've even been known to eat them like apples as an afternoon snack. You'd think I was tired of them by now, but the opposite is true. They never get old, and to be honest, I'm dreading going back to the store-bought kind. So, here's to the only fruit I put on my pizza:)

OH WHAT A FILLING!!

My friend Tami 

brought me over some beautiful apples 

from her apple trees this week.

They looked almost too good to eat.  Almost . . . .

  After I took a few pics of them,

I  started thinking about my sister's delicious apple pie filling. 

I decided to try my hand at making some of my own.

I started out peeling the apples by hand with a paring knife.

Then I remembered this fancy little apple peeler/slicer thing

I had tucked away in my storage room.  

It worked like a dream!  

All of my little slices were perfectly even 

and just the right thickness for my taste.

 

It wasn't long before I was filling the jars 

and putting them in the canner.

One box of apples made about 12 quarts of pie filling.

Bring on the crust!!

 

Thanks for the apples Tami!

And, thanks for the delicious recipe Sis!!

OLE'

There are few things I enjoy more than my garden tomatoes.  

Every year I look forward to picking them by the bushel and making my yummy salsa. 

This year was no exception.

My jars have been waiting. . .

and the tomatoes are finally ripe and ready.

First I remove the skins of the tomatoes.

Then, I chop them up in the food processor

 and put them in a large stockpot.

Next, I add plenty of onions, bell peppers,

 jalapeno peppers,

and garlic, of course,

It's a lot of chopping and by now my eyes are watering like mad!!

 I cook the salsa out on the BBQ burner 
so my house won't smell like salsa for a week.

It takes a couple of hours to thicken up good.

Into the jars it goes.

It's sealed and processed in the canner for 30 minutes.

Mmmm! I love my garden fresh tomatoes!