Married {with Cows} Blog

Chunky Zucchini Salsa Recipe

8/26/2016

Posted By: Jesse Williams

If you have zucchini coming out of your garden like I do, this is a great way to preserve it for the winter. Credit goes to my big sister for sharing this recipe with me and answering all my canning questions, even at 10pm at night!

Ingredients:

PART 1:
12 cups of chopped Zucchini, seeds removed (can shred if you prefer the texture)
4 cups chopped yellow onion
2 cups chopped red pepper
2 cups chopped green pepper
2 jalapenos, chopped (remove rubs & seeds for mild taste)
¼ cup pickling salt
PART 2:
8 cups chopped tomatoes (can used canned dice, or fresh with skin removed)
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups pickling vinegar
2 tsp chili powder
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 crushed garlic cloves (large)
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp dry mustard
2- 13oz cans of tomato paste

Directions:

PART 1:

Combine all ingredients in PART 1 in a bowl. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.
Once refrigerated, put in large colander or use cheese cloth over a pot to drain any juices. Leave in refrigerator for several hours. Discard juice.

PART 2:

In a large pot combine chopped tomatoes, drained zucchini mixture, garlic and tomato paste.
In a separate small bowl combine the brown sugar, spices and corn starch until mixed. Add pickling vinegar. Add to large pot with veggies.
Bring pot to a boil, stirring frequently for 10 minutes. Then let summer for 1 hour, continuing to stir frequently.

PART 3: CANNING

Place your clean glass jars, lids and rings into a large canning pot of boiling water. This will sanitize your jars to ensure a proper seal.
Remove one jar at a time using tongs or a jar lifter. Be careful as they will be very hot to touch. Fill the jar with salsa leaving about ½” of space at the top.
Wipe any excess salsa off the rim of the jar to ensure a proper seal. Place the sanitized lid and ring on top. Tighten as much as you can.
Place back in boiling water bath for 30 minutes to.
Repeat until all salsa is canned. Leave jars overnight to allow them to seal. You should hear popping noises when they seal. If not, you may have to re-can.

Enjoy!

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Digital Scrapbook: July '16

8/6/2016

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Posted By: Jesse Williams

RAIN, MOSQUITOES & VACATION

July, where did you go?! This last month was rare for us, as typically we rarely ever take time off the farm, however we had several great long weekend trips with family and friends! When the hubs and I decided to make the big move back to the farm from the city we vowed we would spend more time doing fun things with friends and family- but everyone says that don’t they? I must admit that I really didn’t think it would happen, yet July came and went with nearly every weekend jam packed!

In between all the fun we managed to squeeze in some haying between the constant rains and the swarms of hungry mosquitoes. Clay is still laughing at my drought ’16 prediction…

Indian Graves Horse Trip

July 8-10 brought one of my favorite trips so far this year. We wrangled up the horses, hooked up the holiday trailer and headed to Indian Graves Provincial Park in Kananaskis Country of the Rocky Mountains. My sister, her family and my parents also joined us with their ponies for this whirlwind trip. I must mention that our prairie quarter horses aren’t used to trees, let alone going up and down mountain trails, so it was quite the learning adventure for both horses and riders! Clay brought our home raised paint colt along, who added roping, climbing cut lines and swimming (up to his neck!) to his list of talents. I am so proud of that horse (and his rider, too!).

Montana Bound

Trip #2 for these homebodies took us to Eureka, MT for a very special wedding. Friends of ours tied the knot on the gorgeous shore of Lake Kookanusa followed by a fabulous night of celebrating at a local saloon. We truly had a blast and enjoyed visiting with many ranching friends that we hadn’t seen in years, from all around Alberta (our industry really is SO small!), however if I never do another tequila shot off a blue salt block again, I will be a happy girl! Thanks Hayley & Adam for a great weekend celebrating your love!

Right: Striking a pose in front of Lake Kookanusa!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Wayne!

My maternal grandfather Wayne Martin turned 79 on July 31st and the whole family showed up to our Cypress Hills, SK cabin to celebrate. My grandpa Wayne holds a very special place in my heart as I was his ‘lap lander’ and he was my ranching hero extraordinaire. My grandma and grandpa Martin operated a mixed farm/ranch near Cadillac, SK that 5 generations proudly graced before they sold out in 2005. Retired now, my grandpa is still my ranching role model and one heck of a golfer (he whooped his daughters!). Happy Birthday Gramps. Here’s to many more!

Right: Grandpa Wayne and I strike a pose at the Cypress Hills Golf Course

#Hay16 Update

This has been one very interesting haying year. Usually we start laying down hay first thing after the July long weekend, wrapping up in just a few weeks. This year… we couldn’t even get into our hay fields because it won’t stop raining! We can add another 10+ inches of rain this month (we stopped counting!), including 6” when we went to Montana and another 3” while we were at the cabin… Maybe we should go on holidays more often? We can’t complain, because our country is typically bone dry, so while a few of our swaths may have gotten rained on, we are happy that we actually have hay to cut.

To give you some perspective, the bottom left picture was taken in 2015 after swathing. The same field, same spot is pictured at the top right. I think there is a bit of a difference there!!

Looking Forward to August...

Canadian Beef Industry Conference
Cattlemen’s Young Leaders Experience (wish me luck!)
Our 5th Wedding Anniversary (WHAAAT!?)

June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016