This summer was tough on our vegetable garden, a casualty of the drought that affected much of North America. Because we don't actually have vaporators, only about 60% of our garden came to fruition.
Undaunted, we turned to our most prolific produce to see what we could make of peppers, tomatoes and (believe it or not!) watermelon*.
Last year we were (happily!) overrun with cucumbers so I quickly learned how to make preserves and, with the help of Krista and various visitors to Small Pond, made jar after jar of relish, bread & butter pickles, and garlic dill pickles. With nary a cucumber in sight this year, we decided to try our hand at salsa, and last night Krista and I preserved eight jars of it, using
a recipe provided by our friend Elizabeth D'Anjou.
Salsa! |
Perfect peppers.
Prepping the watermelon.
Pickling the part you normally discard.
Watermelons in the sun.
And finally,
a refreshing and sweet treat...
Fresh watermelon sorbet (secret ingredient: vodka)
*UPDATE, 06 September 2012:
If there is a lesson to be learned from all of this, which is dubious, it is this: if you can't pickle the one you love, pickle the one you're with!
*UPDATE, 06 September 2012: