We received some gifts of produce this year from other's gardens. My sister-in-law Jen gave us some zucchini and Josh's friend Ryan gave us some tomatoes and peppers.
I've never grown zucchini, but I've been given lots of it in the past. The only thing I've ever done with it is fry it. I love fried zucchini, but the rest of my family doesn't. Josh think it tastes too slimy and greasy, and the boys agree. So, this year I tried deep-frying it. And, as a result, the boys gave it much higher ratings: they all liked it! I made a large batch of it twice! I didn't think of taking a picture until after they were all set on everyone's dinner plates. The deep-fried zucchini is the middle circle on the left! (And, as a side note, the large meat on the right is a barbecued spare rib that we were trying for the first time as well! That dinner was SOOO delicious: home-grown pork ribs, home-made applesauce, home-grown zucchini, and biscuits with home-made raspberry jam!)
I've also never grown tomatoes or peppers. I don't really like the texture of tomatoes, but I knew I didn't want either of the vegetables to go to waste. The obvious solution was to make salsa! I've never made salsa before, but I found a recipe that I thought would be good. I had no idea what the two kinds of peppers were that were given to us, and I had no idea how hot they were. I just threw in all the tomatoes and peppers and some of our onions and some spices and apple vinegar, cooked it up, and bottled it. I tried a little bit of it and I wasn't pleased with the taste: it tasted bitter and very H-O-T!!! Josh agreed with me on that, too. Surprisingly, Ammon liked the taste of it! I don't know if I'll ever eat this batch of salsa or not, but it was a definite learning experience for me. I learned that: 1. Peppers are hot! I made the mistake of touching my face a few times after I'd cut up the peppers, and my eyes burned for hours. I won't be doing that again!! and 2. It's important to know the type of peppers being used, due to their varying degrees of heat! So, in the future, I will figure out the type of peppers that I'm using, and only put the recommended amount in! 
I'm so glad I made the goal to make a new and different recipe with every food item I grew! It was challenging for me, and I enjoyed creating so many new edible things! And for the most part, I enjoyed eating them all, too!!!
2 comments:
You are so adventurous, but then, you always were! I like reading about all your experimenting. My mother-in-law, and mother, make the yummiest salsa. I know in my m-i-l's case, the secret is... sugar. Not a ton, but enough to make it a little on the sweet side. Yum!
HOT salsa is my favorite. And that pumpkin puree is awesome, if you have too much of either I will happily take them off your hands!!
I'm so impressed with your cooking skills and being able to use everything in your garden so creatively. Good job big sis!
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