Peach Salsa

About 3 years ago, our little beaut' of a peach tree outdid itself and rained peaches. We made peach salsa, among other things, and I've never forgotten that deliciousness. 

Our peach tree gave us all of 2 dozen peaches this year. The squirrels got to half of them and the other half were amazing... but you know, there were not enough to cook with. 

Luckily, our friends Kris and Charles, generously gifted us a bag of their home grown peaches. So today was salsa day and in case you want the recipe, here goes:

PEACH SALSA

Ingredients

6-8 cups freshly diced peaches

6-8 large tomatoes (Or double if you use Roma)

1 cup finely chopped red onions

4 jalapeno peppers (seeds removed and finely chopped)

1 large sweet red pepper (seeds removed and finely

chopped)

½ cup finely chopped cilantro

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp ground cayenne pepper (more for more heat)

2 tsp ground cumin

¼ cup honey

½ cup white vinegar

Instructions

How to Make Peach Salsa

Blanch peaches and cool in sink of ice cold water. Peel, pit and chop into small chunks.

Blanch tomatoes and cool in sink of ice cold water. Peel, remove seeds and chop into small chunks.

In a large cooking pot, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. 

Cook, uncovered for about 5 minutes, stirring often. If mixture is too thin, continue boiling for another 4-5 minutes or until enough liquid has evaporated and the mixture thickens.

Canning Peach Salsa Directions

Ladle peach salsa into hot jars within ½ to ¼ inch from the top.

Using a paper towel, wipe the rim to remove any residue.

Center lid and hand tighten. Repeat until you run out of salsa to fill jars.

Place jars into a hot bath canner.. Process for 10 minutes; increase time as needed for your altitude.

Let them sit 12 hours... or... chill it and scoop onto a blue corn chip ASAP!

October 16th : Rice Paddies of Longsheng

I wished we had sunny blue skies. We didn’t. It was torrential rain the whole drive up to the rice fields. On the bright side, the rice was supposed to have been harvested in the days leading up to us arriving but due to unseasonal rain, it had been postponed.  What might have been bare fields - with or without water, were still filled with rice as the local people waited for the drier days required for harvesting.

The rain stopped. The clouds came and went with every passing minute. At times, IMC conditions, at other times a wee opportunity to take selfies and capture the golden color of the paddies… rice dangling from long blades, droplets glistening. I never knew what rice looked like before it found its way into a bag at my local grocery store, I am ashamed to admit. It's quite beautiful in a "wild grass at the end of summer" kinda way.

A side note: Sometimes it appears the Chinese have no rules and sometimes it seems lots of rules. In the rice paddies, was this sign: 

And then, 2 seconds later, an older Chinese lady (tourist) trespassing on the rice. She deserved to have her picture taken and yes, she was less than impressed to see me doing it.

The rice paddies are amazing but what was more special today was the invitation from a local family to have lunch with them, in their home. We watched the bamboo rice being stuffed and barbequed on the porch and sat around on tiny chairs enjoying the view. The village was teeming with animals and life… and it was perfect. Everyone had a garden and all around us grew grape tomatoes, squash, eggplant, peppers, bananas and more. 

Tofu squeezers! The water drips right into the drainage system.

I love the Chinese names. Imaginative and connected with the world around.

A reminder of the "one child only" rule, stenciled in the village. Wow.

Opening the bamboo stuffed rice. 

It was then time to walk down from the hills and drive back to Guilin. So many things to see along the way though.

Smoked duck. Like... really smoked! While an old school way to preserve meat for the off-season, I wondered about how much meat is actually left. Our guide is very honest about all sorts of stuff (wait til you read about the pets vs dinner conversation) and he told us that yes, it has be be kinda rehydrated and admittedly there is not much value to it once this duck has been desiccated to this extent. He says the Chinese have "food" that is more to keep the mouth busy, than actually provide calories. Chicken feet is another example. 

Another way to get up to the rice paddies.

Another walk through town was on the books this evening. I needed to find proof for Jason that he was wrong. The spiders and scorpions on a skewer were not solely for tourists, but in fact Chinese people were the ones who ate them. 

(I watched a Chinese woman buy and eat the scorpions!)

We snacked on interesting crepes and squid on a stick, before hitting that amazing bakery one more time.  :-)

The Grand Campfire Muffin Experiment of 2011

It started as an idea... inspired by You-tube, as all good things are.

But what quickly evolved, was a mission to try - no, perfect campfire baking.

Using my Swedish camp cookware and a muffin-in-a-box recipe, I added the wet ingredients and set about cooking.

The batter goes into a ziplock bag, then rests atop of a handy-dandy hot plate which is raised about an inch off the base of the cook pot. The pot gets water filled to the level of the hot plate.

The pot is lidded and placed over heat.

Yes... that would be a camp fire or cook stove normally, but in the experimental phase, its ok to use all available resources. I have found that a new kitchen, complete with granite and a stainless gas range, works very well in a pinch.

And 25 minutes later... OMG, it's steamed chocolate cake in a bag! Delightful!

Ok, so you've noticed... The "hot plate" is a do-it-yourself treasure. You too could make of these... Just open the can and remove the tuna, drill holes in the base and CLEAN it!

I would be lying if I said this didn't taste amazing. Every warm, gooey, chocolatey bite of it!

However, as I mentioned at the beginning, this is a quest for perfection and despite all its deliciousness, I feel I could do better. As such, I am driven to keep "experimenting and tasting" until no further improvement is possible. Life is SO hard.