September 2012

September 2012
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30

Archive for September 2012

Naomi’s Roasted Veggie Salsa

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Renee Spindle

There are a ton of jalapenos to be used up from my recent garden harvest. One of my favorite ways to use the jalapenos is in my daughter, Naomi’s roasted salsa. My daughter got me hooked on her salsa the first time I tasted it, and being the “spice weenie” that I am it’s amazing that I liked it at all. She roasts fresh veggies, and throws everything in the food processor for a yummy, yummy treat. This recipe has become a family favorite for all of our family get togethers.

Now here’s what you need to do to make it.

Ingredients:

8 big tomatoes
3 mild jalapeños
handful of cilantro
1/2 of a white or red onion
garlic salt
a couple of splashes of el pato tomato sauce
* Note – for a milder salsa clean the seeds from the jalapeño, and slice in half before roasting.

Directions:

1) Rinse your veggies, and toss them on a big cookie sheet. The jalapenos are de-seeded and sliced in half for my roasting purposes. Since I’m the spice weenie. I don’t want the heat.

2) Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and bake for 15 minutes.

3) Then turn your oven to broil, and cook the veggies for an additional 10 minutes.

4) After the veggies are cooked, cool them in the fridge overnite, or for at least 6 hours.

5) To put the salsa together pull out your favorite food processor.

6) Put the onion in the food processor in quarters, and chop until very fine.

7) Cut the center from the tomatoes, and either quarter them or cut them in half for smoother processing.

8) Place the remaining ingredients in the food processor, and pulse only for a thicker, chunkier salsa.

9) I pulse for just a few seconds and then check the consistency before pulsing again. This is consistency that I like to have for my salsa. Can you see the little bits of roasted jalapeno? This gives the salsa such great flavor. Yum!

10) This next item is very important in the salsa process. Get your favorite tortilla chips out of the cupboard, and taste test the salsa to be sure you have enough garlic salt, and the heat is the way you like it. You can also designate an official taste tester, but I prefer to do my own tasting.

11) I only like my salsa very mild (the spice weenie effect), so these directions don’t include a lot of ingredients for the heat. If you want or like the extra heat; leave the seeds in the jalapenos, and add additional el pato sauce.

This is a wonderful fresh salsa. You can use it in your favorite guacamole recipe, as a garnish on tacos or burritos. The sky is the limit. If you enjoy the roasted veggie flavor this is a great staple salsa that you can make all on your own. I’m off to the kitchen to make my next batch. Have a great weekend everyone.

No comments Posted in Around the House, Family, Food, Gardening, Recipes

The Colors from My Summer Garden

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Renee Spindle

This afternoon I have been working on getting the summer photos organized. There are just a few that I want to share with all of you from my garden. Especially since the summer gardening season is winding down for many of us “green thumbs”.

First up – the lovely jalapenos. Mild and yummy just for me, since I’m a huge “spice weenie”. I don’t like the heat, just the jalapeno flavor. I’ve harvested close to 8 dozen of these beauties. Can’t wait to share my daughter’s roasted salsa recipe with you.

Next up – the mini pumpkins. This is a Burpee variety of pumpkin, called Small Sugar. They can probably be used for pumpkin baking, but for my purposes they will most likely just be decorating the house for fall.

Then there are the sunflowers. Evan and I had planted the huge, big sunflowers, and right after they bloomed they got attacked by this ugly fungus and I ended up chopping them down. But they were gorgeous for a little while.

There were also had the small sunflowers, which made a great backdrop in the garden. I had cut some of these and brought them in the house too. But, they still had so much pollen dropping I only did that once. They were a little messy, but very sunflower pretty.

Then there was this little sunflower, and I think he was saying, “Do I have to wake up today?” Kind of funny.

Last flower of the day is the lovely zucchini blossom. I took a lot of pictures of these blooming, because the flowers are huge. This is one of my favorites. I’m still harvesting a few zucchini, and making all kinds of baked goodies from them.

Now I am in the process of planting for a winter crop of cucumbers, sweet corn, spinach and lettuce. This is the first year I have attempted plantings after the summer harvest. We are fortunate here in California to have a second growing season, and this year I will be taking advantage of it.

How did your garden grow this summer? What is your favorite fruit or veggie from your summer garden?

2 comments Posted in Around the House, Family, Gardening

The Baseball Dream List

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Travel Man and I have a dream list item in common. We both want to travel this great US of A and see a baseball game played in every major league stadium. Our hometown team is the Anaheim Angels, and if we had the opportunity we’d follow the Angels around the country for an entire baseball season. That would be in our dream cloud of course.

Last month we took a vacation to New York City and got to see the Yankees play the Boston Red Sox. A great baseball rivalry. We had a wild taxi ride to the stadium, as we were running a little late. We had taken a day long tour of the city that day, and then headed straight to the stadium. Of course there was a downpour when we got there, and we purchased some wonderful dollar store ponchos for a price that we will not mention here.

We entered the stadium from gate 4 I believe, and I was completely mesmerized. There are banners of the former Yankee greats lining one wall of the stadium. Names like; Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Roger Maris to name a few. Such rich baseball history just in those pictures alone.

Once we made it to our seats, and got to take in the sights and sounds we could not believe we were actually sitting there watching the Yankees playing the Red Sox. We had to pinch each other a few times to be sure it was real. The crowd is always completely engaged in the game. Great music between batters, lots of chants and cheering. Plus a Yankees fan a couple of rows in front of us shouting, “Boston sucks”.

The bonus for the night was when Derek Jeter made history with his 250th career home run. Spectacular. Yankee Stadium, Derek Jeter makes history, Yankee souvenirs purchased for the grandson. All in all a great, great experience. It will be interesting to see which stadium we end up at next season. This may become a new summer tradition for Travel Man and I.

Are you a fan of baseball? What’s your favorite stadium to visit?

5 comments Posted in Sports, Travel Man, Vacation

There’s An Anniversary We Did Forget

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Renee Spindle

Our son, Zachary, turned 21 this past July. In August, on the 14th to be exact we should have done the “happy dance” for Zachary and at the very least remembered the date. August 14th, 2012, was Zach’s 8th Anniversary of cancer survivorship. He’s a survivor of childhood leukemia (ALL). I told our family’s story earlier this year in a three-part series, where you can read all the details of our experience.

I woke up this morning feeling a little bummed out that we had forgotten to mark the date this year. I have never forgotten to celebrate this date since Zach’s chemo ended in 2004. So, since I have this platform to celebrate my son and his good health, I am.

December 2001 – Zach had been in treatment since April of 2001, and continued his chemo regimen until August of 2004.

Christmas 2001 – Zach’s a trooper!

Turn the clock ahead to 2012-Healthy and strong.

Zach’s 21!!*

Happy 8th Anniversary, Zachary. Livestrong, Superman.

*Photo credits from the birthday party – Elaine Zee.

No comments Posted in Around the House, Family

My Favorite Sloppy Joes

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Renee Spindle

I’m in a recipe kind of mood this week. Probably because there is the tiniest hint of fall in the air, probably because I’ve been busily harvesting all kinds of goodies from my garden, and most importantly because I just love to cook. I’ve made a lot of different sloppy joe recipes, even the Manwich variety. I remember making sloppy joes in 4-H when I was 10 or 11. I think that was in the second year of cooking. Then I tried the sloppy joe recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. There are a few changes to the recipe; namely ketchup in place of tomato sauce. It would be hard for me to make any other sloppy joes after enjoying this one.

The Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef, or ground turkey
1 splash of vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped onion (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup chopped green pepper (1 small)
1 cup of ketchup
2 Tbsp. water
1 to 1½ teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup of water
6 kaiser rolls or hamburger buns

The Directions:

In a large skillet cook the onion and green pepper in a splash of vegetable oil until tender.
Add the meat to this and cook until completely browned.
Drain the fat from the pan.
Stir in the remaining ingredients, including the additional 1 cup of water.
The additional cup of water allows you to simmer the mixture for about 15 minutes so the flavors can mesh and meld.
Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Serve on toasted kaiser rolls or hamburger buns.
Don’t forget to serve the potato chips on the side. A little bit of sloppy joe on a bit of a potato chip is an amazing snack!

This is a great recipe to double or triple for a crowd. (This is a Party House favorite recipe!) A simple, easy to do week night recipe. Or a great party crowd recipe, or a great let’s watch the baseball playoffs recipe! (Is it October yet?) Oh, and don’t forget if you’re serving sloppy joes and potato chips you must include the dill pickles. Happy cooking everyone!