Nothing like GARDEN fresh salsa!!

Oh it is time...for SALSA!! I love to make salsa...probably because it requires no cooking so it never gets burnt. However I did cut my finger with the knife, go figure.

I love this salsa I have looked and looked for a good recipe and I have finally found it so I thought I would share

30 tomatoes

2 green peppers

2 onions

4 cloves garlic

4 jalapenos

1 chili

3 big jims

garlic and or onion salt to taste

make sure you cut open your peppers and take all the seeds out...it is warm without the seeds. My lips are tingling as we speak. I put everything in my chopper and cut it all up and mix it together and you are done!

ENJOY!!!

Freezer Summer Squash

So I planted 3 plants of summer squash this year. Yes I have summer squash out my ears. I think my husband is getting sick of eating it. Can you blame him? Squash every night for a week now. So I decided to freeze it. It will be great for cooking with and using for baby food when needed. I found this awesome site Pick Your Own with step by step instructions and PICTURES too! We all love pictures!!! Check it out if you are looking to save some of your summer produce from the garden!

HOMEmade BuBbLeS!!

My daughter loves BUBBLES! I wanted bubbles that would blow big..so I made my own.

Here is the recipe I found to work the best!

2/3 cup of JOY dish soap

1 gallon of water

3 to 4 Tablespoons of Glycerin (you can get this in the pharmacy area)

You can also add food coloring so your bubble have a hit of color!

TADA there you have it a whole GALLON of bubble for your little ones to enjoy! Cause if you are like me...I am running out of things to entertain my little with! So now we have a GALLON of bubbles to go though, HOORAY!

Hand Pulled Taffy

Last night my mom came and taught a class on how to pull taffy! I thought I would share the recipes and some tips! They all turned out so so good!

Any Flavor Taffy

2 1/2 cups white sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup corn syrup

1 1/3 cups water

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 (0.13 ounce) package unsweetened, fruit-flavored soft drink mix

Directions

Butter 2 large baking sheets, and set them aside.

In a medium saucepan, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. Add corn syrup, water, butter and salt, and stir to blend. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook until the mixture reads 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat, and immediately stir in the drink mix powder. Quickly pour out onto the prepared baking sheets, and let stand until cool enough to handle.

Grab a few helpers, and butter everyone's hands. Stretch (pull) the taffy until it lightens in color, and becomes firm. Roll into bite size pieces, and wrap in small squares of waxed paper.

TIP: We actually found on this recipe if you only cook it to the soft ball stage which is about 240 degrees and pull it for about 10 to 15 minutes, twist it like a rope and put it in the fridge for about 5 minutes it is the consistancy of Laffy Taffy! We just used grape Kool Aid to flavor the taffy, it was so so good! SOFT and MOIST!

Honey Taffy

1/2 C Sugar

1/2 C Cream or Half and Half

1 C Honey

Directions

Pour into buttered 13x9 pan, cool until candy can be handled, and pull until candy turns creamy white and is difficult to pull.

Twist in 1/2 inch rope place on wax paper. Make indents in rope with knife, turn over rope and hit indents with back of knife.

Molasses Taffy

2 C Sugar

1/3 C Molasses

1/3 C Karo Syrup

1/3 C Water

1/3 C Cube Butter

Directions

Pour into buttered 13x9 pan, cool until candy can be handled, and pull until candy turns creamy white and is difficult to pull.

Twist in 1/2 inch rope place on wax paper. Make indents in rope with knife, turn over rope and hit indents with back of knife.

Another trick you can use is butter a cookie sheet and fill your bath tub with a little bit of cold water. Place the cookie sheet in the tub but don't let any water get into the pan. You will want to scrap the pan until it is cool enough to touch. You will know when it is ready to pull cause it will not be quite at sticky and you can actually pull it!

I just found a great blog with pictures of them making taffy since my hands were too sticky to take pictures!! click here

This is a great summer activity for the kids! My daughter loves to watch it being pulled..she is a little small to actually pull it right now!

Enjoy!!!