Groovy Girls’s birthday is on Wednesday and yesterday we hosted her birthday party for 7 friends. We have a downtown art fair that takes place yearly and right before her big day so this year we combined the two. My husband, the creative driving force, designed a treasure hunt for the girls. Downtown stores held clues leading them ultimately to our unique candy shop where bags of sour, gummy, and delightful candy awaited them!
All five of us were together this past week as Kaylee came to stay in between her NY internship and the beginning of her junior year at Oberlin. I tend to go an extra mile, culinary-wise, while she is here. We have happy hour with lots of tomato-based appetizers; like bruschetta and tomatoes layered with fresh mozzarella and basil clipped fresh from the garden.
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| Tofu stir-fry |
We spent another weekend up at the farm with my mom. She called and said tomatoes were not selling at the farmer’s market any more and we needed to make salsa. She said this with such enthusiasm I couldn’t resist even though I had so much to do at my own home, getting ready for school. I tucked Groovy Girl into the car with the new Kindle Fire and a good book and took off for the wilds of Northeast Iowa.
We’ve prepared this same salsa for the last few years although last year my mom made it herself as we just couldn’t coordinate a time to do it together. This year my cupboard was completely bare of any salsa and I knew I couldn’t make it through the year without this particular staple to my diet.
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| Groovy Girl collected ALL the tomatoes for our second batch of salsa! |
Friends of ours, our minister and his wife, passed this recipe on to us. They also make it every year although I think we’ve changed our version up enough that they do not taste similar anymore.
Salsa
Skin 20 cups of tomatoes. To do this you need to boil a pot of water, place tomatoes into hot water and watch for skins to start “popping.”
1 1/2 cup cornstarch
4 cups onions, chunked up
2 cups green peppers, chunked up
2 banana peppers, chopped
5 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 jalapeno, sliced
2 cups sugar
3 T. cayenne pepper
4 tsp chili powder
2 T. cumin
1 T. coriander
4 T. salt
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
Once the tomato skins have popped scoop them out and run a little cold water over and peel skin back. Cut out the stem and down to get that odd white core out (about 1/4 down). Loosely chop tomatoes and add to food processor. After each batch is processed add it a large pot. (We only processed our tomatoes for about five quick spins-we wanted to it to be medium chunky) Save out two cups of processed tomatoes and add the corn starch in and stir to dissolve. After you finish processing tomatoes and they are cooking in large pot add onions, peppers, and garlic to food processor and quick pulse to combine. Again only a few pulses because you want to see small chunks of greens and yellows. Combine spices, peppers, and garlic into tomato pot. Stir to combine. This is a great time to do a taste test to see if you want to spice it up more. (The original recipe calls for more hot peppers and cayenne but I like it not as spicy because my kids eat it like this. We’ve worked hard to make it kid-friendly without compromising flavor. )
Our pot was so full we had to scoop back and forth to really mix it up. Slowly add the tomato/cornstarch mix and stir well. Cook 20-30 additional minutes.
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| (My grandmother’s canning pot) |
Put in hot sterilized jars and seal. The tops should pop if sealed correctly. What a satisfying sound as you hear them go “pop”, “pop”, “pop” 14 different times! A glorious happy feeling.
This salsa-making session will always be remembered as our Olympics-
1. We made one batch and crazily decided “let’s do it again!”
2. The Olympics played non-stop on my mom’s kitchen television while we (I) chopped, stirred, pulsed, and poured. I’m sure I took home a medal-14 in fact!
Our goal is to include Groovy Girl a little more each year. This year about all she wanted to do was gather the tomatoes but next year she will help a little more. Eventually my mom will have taught me how to do all that fancy canning stuff on my own and Groovy Girl will by my helper. I clearly remember making jam in my grandmother’s kitchen. She sat in her green chair while my mom and I took out samples to her so she could check our progress. The cycle keeps turning.
This post is part of Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to read many other food-related posts.
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| Beautiful hotel pool |
I turned 50 yesterday. I know. It feels weird to me as well. I remember when my parents were 50 and it seemed so dang old-seriously ancient-that I never contemplated reaching the age myself. It’s here. When in doubt, celebrate or run away and celebrate. Groovy Girl attended church camp for 3 days near Des Moines and my husband came up with the idea to “whisk” me away for those few days. We stayed in a nice hotel with a very comfy white bed. This photo doesn’t even convey how soft yet crisp the bed felt.
I had a white bed like this years ago when I was single and lived in St. Paul, MN. I didn’t have kids or a husband or two big hairy dogs; just me and a simple bed with white sheets and a white down comforter. I missed it just a tiny bit as I enjoyed this one but not enough to trade the kids, the dogs, or the husband! It’s just a bed after all. Those other things make up my life.
Here’s my birthday photos to share…
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Cupcakes with our friends Rocky and Mary Kay
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| Groovy Girl’s “Mama” collage |
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| My little feet dragging at check-out time |
Weekend Cooking:
It’s a busy day here in the Holt household. My husband is off doing a shoot for 3M and I’m diligently working on homework to finish my Fantasy Literature course for Fresno Pacific.We also have a casual wedding this evening.
I did sneak out early this morning to go to our beautiful Farmer’s Market which I missed while in Colorado.
I picked up two baby eggplants, a basket of okra, and a nice-looking cucumber. I’ve been making a lot of easy dishes using garden produce especially using the large box of tomatoes I carted home from my mom’s house.
I plan to make this eggplant recipe from The Chew; a cooking show my mom introduced me to. For dinner last night I whipped this recipe up created by me using lots of fresh produce.
Saute the zucchini and yellow squash in olive oil for a few minutes and then added the garlic. Continue to saute to soften the dreaded squashes that my children despise but will eat if cut small enough. Add the chopped tomatoes which will create a nice juice. Add the can of garbanzo beans and stir to mix. Sprinkle in sea salt, ground pepper and curry. Serve in low bowls over brown rice. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese, cilantro, or torn basil leaves. This is a perfect summer recipe because you can tailor it to what ever extra veggies you have on hand or what you find at the market. Spice it up with cumin or change the garbanzos to black beans for variety.
My husband just finished Ragbrai (the famous ride across Iowa) yesterday and he had three helpings. My kids each ate one bowl and the only complaint Groovy Girl had was that I hadn’t added enough tomatoes to her bowl. Enjoy!
Oh and Adam Duritz: What? Yes. He was part of my week!
The last night of Ragbrai I met up with my husband and we saw The Counting Crows together. I still love Duritz’s hair (real or not). He was fun to watch and the music was fantastic!
Happy eating.
My two children and I just spent the last day and a half at my mom’s house in Northern Iowa. We went to relax and spend time on the farm. The basil was flowering and my mom had beckoned me to make a few batches of pesto as well. Groovy Girl ran around today taking photos of her choice on my new phone.
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| (Our beet salad next to magazine photo) |
These post is linked to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads. Click on her link about Dinner; A Love Story and see what other fantastic food-related posts she has linked to this Saturday.  |
| (Freedom Park-butterfly bench) |
I left my family for two days (one night) to attend the anniversary party of family friends. These are the kinds of friends that have know me since I was knee-high through my terrible teen years, have been there for me through many major life events, and still unconditionally love me. So nearly family, yes?
They had a beautiful afternoon church service that involved husband and wife speaking and then their three children stood and spoke about their parents’ love and respect for each other. It was a perfect tribute to this couple. It was wonderful for me to visit with family and friends; some that I hadn’t seen for years. 50 years of blissful marriage is something to celebrate and I was so happy that I could road trip to Prescott, Wisconsin for their event.
Oliver; The Musical opened the same weekend of which both my husband and Groovy Girl are involved with so I had to go solo. I don’t mind except road trips generally mean reading and napping in the car for me. Not so this time~I had to stay alert and drive. Makes me remember to appreciate my husband’s willingness to drive me other times; like this Wed. when we head back to the Twin Cities for a play at the Guthrie.
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| (The St. Croix River) |
The oldest son, Erik, spoke eloquently about his parents and I found myself taking notes; after all aren’t we supposed to learn from the wealth of knowledge at hand.
Here’s what he gathered from his parents and passed back to us:
Erik said he’d learned three skills from each of his parents and shared short quips about each one of them to us. I’m going to share them out to you without the quips.
From his mother, Marcia, he learned:
1. Show up; you’ve got to at least show up, being there is half the battle.
2. Look for opportunities; doors close, others open in a new direction.
3. Stay positive and interested. (He talked about her amazing ability to engage others easily in conversation which showed him later how to cross-examine-he’s a lawyer.)
From his father, Marv, he learned:
1. A do-it-yourself attitude; after all “how hard could it be?” Marv tried to build a boat using my dad’s boat as an actual model. Need I say more.
2. Be Flexible; don’t worry about the small things.
3. Intellectual Curiousity is a way of life.
And from both:
1. Mutual respect
2. Be optimistic.
3. Don’t be afraid to fail; the power to embrace failure is the key to success.
All great advice, right! It is wonderful to have such love spread back to you from your children. I’ll be well in to my eighties if I ever am to celebrate 50 years of wedded bliss but it will be worth it to see what my children have to say!
A little lending library at the park was my favorite site. I want one now out front. You can see me reflected back in the glass instead of the books but it was filled with a wide variety of books.
Even though I was gone for only one night my family was ecstatic to have me back. I got lots of hugs and kisses from big and small. It warmed my heart to make it back and forth safe and sound and receive such love from my family. I guess I’ll have to leave more often!
