In the kitchen with friends

"Life is a journey, not a destination." Ralph Waldo Emerson

There's a chunk of tomato in my hair.

I'm not sure how it got there, but I know where it came from: my kitchen. I canned salsa today, made from tomatoes from my garden.

My kitchen cabinet earlier today.

Adorning my kitchen windowsill in one form or another for weeks now.

In the frenzy of chopping, slicing, boiling, sealing, measuring, cooling, etc., it seems I managed to splat some tomato-y goodness in my hair. I have red hair, so who knows how long it would have stayed there, had I not smacked my noggin on the fridge door and felt my scalp for bleeding (none) and found tomato instead (lots).

I'm like a dainty princess that way.

Making and canning salsa from fresh garden goodies is an annual tradition. Plus, I am a salsa addict, especially the fresh stuff, so this keeps my cravings in check year-round. The nice thing about it today is the fact I had help in the kitchen. Lindsay, a friend and co-worker, wanted not only the yummy salsa recipe, but also to learn how to preserve it. So I invited her over this morning and we set about the fine art of preserving.

Lindsay, in my kitchen, mixing up some goodness.

Our finished product.

I was able to show Lindsay how to do this because my friend, Julie, showed me how to do so a few years ago. Julie gave our family a jar of her homemade salsa as a gift one year for Christmas and I was hooked. I made her promise to share the recipe and teach me how to preserve. She was true to her word that following summer and thus began the tradition.

Here's where Julie got the recipe that she shared with me and I, in turn, shared with Lindsay today. I have to mention I don't use hot peppers ... and that one-hour total time estimate? Wrong. It takes about three to four hours for a double batch.  

In my last post, I talked about missing the opportunity to master culinary skills from my mother, who was an amazing cook. While I cannot cook with my mom, I have been blessed to share my kitchen with good friends, as well as get to learn from them in their own kitchens. My husband? Quite the dandy cook himself and never shy from lending a hand or going full-on chef for any meal.

My husband brings home a fresh bouquet for the kitchen ... just because.

It's so nice to learn and teach in the kitchen. So nice to have someone with whom to split the workload and clean-up. Yes, the meal - or in today's case, the salsa - is the final destination, but the journey is one of conversation, listening, sharing, planning, laughter.

Oh sure, sometimes you get tomatoes in your hair.

Still, it is a journey best taken with good friends and those you love.