No, no definitely not! (Hear that in Olivander's voice from Harry Potter 1) My adventures are have a real Muppet Show flair to them somtimes! 😆

I was unable to delete the emojis from my kindle. Don't know why, it just won't do it.

My current though is to crumble them up finely into milk.with sugar and see if it makes breakfast cereal. 😁

Let me just say they are far too bitter for my taste, and well, I am a person who likes 70% -80% cacao cookies. So ya. I did a thing, a not great thing, and my chocolate craving is not going to be assuaged. 😱

Heart, are you allowed to use a crock pot? I always book places on road trips where I am allowed to leave a crockpot plugged in while gone so that we have chilli or rice and beans, etc. waiting when we come in for supper. It sure would make it easier for you to manage food.

This sounds nice. No tomatoes. But, I do like using lime juice instead of vinegar. I feel like it is less pungent and more authentic. But I like the ratios in this recipe.

Love it! 😂😂😂 I have no idea if tomatoes are needed. I looked at five recipes and they all called for tomatoes. But, they might not be necessary. I like savory. I love peppers. Just love them. So for me, I don't mind these results though maybe slightly less heat would be nice. I can imagine making a truly sweet salsa and enjoying that. But, the small amount of honey and the mild peach flavor works well for me with the tangy, zesty, savory elements. That said, I am pretty certain that this doesn't meet the expectations of most people who like peach or mango style salsa. We definitely would be slapped about on a Bobby Flay show if we produced this. 😁 Alton Brown would probably insult us up one side and right down the other. So if things work out, I will probably make it again, but on a definitely more peach forward flavor profile. 😉pan widget

😂😂😂😂😂😂 Mark got involved. He was very excited about this particular food project. So here is the recap of the adventure: He decided no to the cilantro. He decided that despite the lack of tomatillos, it would taste like verde. He likes verde. He just didn't want peach verde sauce. And then he got a little too happy going off the rails. I wanted to only put 2 lbs of tomatoes in because my Amish Paste are super high powered, tasty tomatoes and super, duper dense and meaty so I began to feel instinctively that maybe 4 lbs would overtake the peaches. He thought I was crazy and wanted them all. Okay then. I felt we needed only 4 jalapenos, and no seeds from them, then just one at most two chili peppers. He decided we needed 8 jalapenos and one with all the seeds, and four chili peppers, and two or three individual seeds in there. Of course the entire huge candy onion went in it. He put two bell peppers from the garden in it. I added 1.5 tbps of cumin, some kosher salt, and the whole head of garlic minced plus a cup of lime juice. The recipe, now not really being followed in any way shape or form, called for sugar. I decided that it should be honey because I figured there was going to be some serious heat in the salsa at this point. The outcome you ask????? A very slightly sweet just barely peachy at all pepper extravaganza salsa that to Mark's pallet is medium heat, and to mine, is hot. 12 jelly jar/ half pints, and 1 full pint. It is delicious! I am not going to lie. It is not what I expected, and frankly, I do think that is because my mad scientist foodie husband got involved. BUT, we actually had a lot of fun making it together, and with another pair of adept hands helping, it took me half the time to do it compared to working alone. He is a big kitchen helper, and if one could control his mad alchemy personality, would be a wonderful Saucier. I just don't think most chefs would be able to exercise any successful management of his crazy food escapades. "I have an idea" is pretty much him all over again no matter what project he touches. I would like a batch that is less pepper/tomato, and more peach on the palette. So I am watching the garden to see if I can get two lbs of tomatoes to ripen before all the Michigan red haven peaches are sold out. Peppers and onions are not an issue. Plenty of those. We have decided that we might take one of the jars, run it through the blender (it is pretty chunky, much like fresh salsa), and use it as a taco sauce on crab meat, shrimp, or pulled pork. I am not a fan of shrimp, so we might go halfsies, and do some shrimp, some crab meat or Lake Superior whitefish. I can't fault him. Seriously, when we got done, he made homemade pizza for us (I made the sauce; he did everything else), and we had so much fun, that after lunch, it felt like we'd been on a date. I am going to spend the afternoon fussing in the garden, playing the piano, and reading. He is going to repair an electric train for our grandsons (an extensive set of repairs because poor C, the 3 year old, dropped the engine on the tile floor in the Bama house and it took a pretty hard hit), and then we are going to take a walk on the beach this evening. So maybe the salsa is also infused with a lot of love and affection which makes me think more highly of the weird results than I should! 😂

Lanny, hasn't been on here for forever. He is such a neat person, and one of our few dads. I hope he is okay!

I think part and parcel of this is that our culture has become so "me first" and seems to not be in tune or perceptive of other people's body language. "I want to shake your hand. I want to hug you." And that is the whole thought, thus it is done in a way that makes it hard to not participate. I mean, I have given incredibly overt body language that says, "Please don't touch me." Moved out of the way, waved before they got to me and then went on to say Hi to someone else, cringed, moved backward, and have literally been pursued by people determined to do what they want. Which I get, if they are a touch person who wants it wherever they can get it, and that is also a thing and a need, then they are going to fulfill that against the wishes of others if not paying attention. I think maybe we need more sensitivity training or something. Most people aren't selfish, obnoxious people. I think it is just a lack of being taught to tune in to the body language and facial expressions of others or those senses being dulled from living in a culture that is so pro "me first". Without consciously going against our culture, we just move blindly along with it and conform regardless. Very much so on church culture. So maybe that is an issue. But of course, there are justs so many differences. Like my sister's father in law doing the " beezus" or however it is pronounced in France. She warned me ahead of time, and let me know the cultural practice, why it exists, how the older generation reacts to people who do not understand and welcome the tradition, etc. She also said that my brother in law talked to his dad about how this can be super uncomfortable to Americans, and that IF I allowed him to do it, he better keep it super formal. Brother in law also said he would be happy to call his dad and tell him, "Absolutely no" if I would prefer that. I didn't necessarily like the idea of it, and was dreading it a bit, but his father was hosting me for dinner, doing all the cooking, and lived alone so he was REALLY enthusiastic about hosting me. I decided I would live through it. He did follow his son's advice and it was pretty almost business like which is NOT what I had imagined. So I was inwardly uncomfortable but managed through. It was also an interesting study in cultural differences. Not one time did I ever see French people, even ones who clearly knew each other well and appeared to be family or very close friends, greet each other or part with a hug. Always the beezus thing. So as an outsider, I wondered if hugs were considered very highly intimate. No idea. Here any kind of kiss, even a peck on the cheek that isn't between family members is just a big ole screaming no no, and even I don't want even the hint of one except from Mark or to give one on the cheeks of my baby grandson who is the most kissable thing in the whole universe! 😍

Also, is it just me or has Selkie been gone a long time? We used to have the healthy eating thread that both of them posted to, and I loves their posts. They helped inspire me to do better.

I agree. I would love the namaste ritual. That would be awesome! For the record, I am a very huggy, physically affectionate person within my family and with closest friends. My dear friend Cordelia and I always hug a greeting and goodbying. But the difference is, she is my dear friend, we know each other so well, and we are a safe person for each other. Handshakes are okay, especially if they are quick, gentle, businesslike. But you always have people who linger and practically turn it into hand holding, the people who crush your hand, or the people who put a hand out and everything in their body language screams they don't like this but feel compelled to join in, and then it just makes me queasy to take their hand, but it is offensive if I don't. Since covid, I am just really shy with that now. It isn't like the pandemic is over despite what the bobbleheads in Washington say. So ya. Namaste rituals would be so welcome to me because it can feel very warm and friendly without am invasion of hands and arms that makes me uneasy. I think this is a serious issue. More than many realize. We are after all a country that apart from obviously having people who have anxiety in large groups, other with sensory issues, also have a rate of 1 out of 3 women and children who have experienced sexual crime. That is A LOT of people for whom a greeting that involves physicality can be a flight or fight response. I think about that a lot. And again, I am someone who absolutely loves physical affection. But from my husband, my kids, my sister, my grandkids, Cordelia, etc. Not from people in public spaces even if I know them.

My issue is that every church I attended as a child was forcible contact. The announcement from the pulpit was "Hug each other in the name of the lord" or similar jazz like that. Adults forced children and teens to have physical contact. It was like being pawed on by a gazillion people and you were not allowed to say no because it was considered disrespectful to your elders. And the creepy men would rub your back while they "hugged" you. Handshakes would have been preferred, but even then, these were not the business quick hand shake things because the creepy people lingered and gave you the willies. OP, it is kind of judgemental to assume that people are so starved for physical affection that the church must fill this gap or even should fill this gap. Do you really know that when people arrive on Sunday morning that they are so deprived in their lives of personal contact within their own family or inner circle of friends that this is necessarily a public good that should be thrust upon them in a worship service in order to be emotionally healthy? That is really a major leap. My parents were very close with us. We had lots of hugging, grandparents that lived two blocks away and cuddled us, aunts and uncles whom we all hugged hello and goodbye. Very close family friends who were kind and loving, and everyone hugged. We were an affectionate family. The idea that people need this from a whole bunch of people they may or may not know well at church for a worship setting is, I think, quite a startling conclusion that everyone is starved for affection and the church must therefore provide it. Just because it is a tradition to do it, that doesn't mean it is good. People need physical affection. They need it from people with whom they have a trusting relationship, family, very close personal friends. They don't need it from a crowd in a public place, and I don't really know how putting people on the spot and forcing them to either acquiesce in order to fit in or not participate and then ostracizing them is a very loving thing to do. The ostrasizing is absolutely a thing. Sure there are probably people who are living alone or in families whose physical contact is unhealthy. But that doesn't mean crowdsourcing affection is appropriate either. Surely there is some way to have a greeting time in which people can simply chat, smile, wave and not feel forced into unwanted physical contact without then being "the odd duck" and on the outside with the church goers who are happy to handshake, hug, whatever with each other.

I just got done with Prairie Fires, and will soon start, Manoomin: The Story of Wild Rice in Michigan.

Now you are all making me think about adding basil. I love basil. Basil the best. Is there anything basil should not go into? 😁

I am one of those people who doesn't "recipe" well if I can use that word as a verb. 😂 I almost always find something I thunk is wrong. Like recipes that call for small amounts of cumin. Why bother? Cumin is marvelous but easily overwhelmed by other herbs and spices. So go big or go home! 😁 At this point what I think I am going to do is something like this: Mark ate 2 peaches. So I have 14. I think I have 4 lbs of tomatoes. I have 9 jalapenos (another one was ready to pick after I did my evening garden walk), and 8 red chillies though I am willing to admit 8 red chillies is an awful lot of heat, so maybe 4. 1 large candy onion. 1 cup lime juice. 3 tbps cumin and then add from there as I taste. 1 large head of garlic. Salt to taste. If I think it needs balance to the heat, a little bit of honey only because I have seen Bobby Flay do this and assume it won't be a bad thing. But if turns out to be a bad decision, he is getting salty letter from me! 😆 Cilantro on the side. Pull a cup of salsa out after it has cooked a little bit, add a modest amount of cilantro, stir, heat up in a separate sauce pan, taste, and go from there. I am trying to remember if youngest son has the soap gene or not. He really wants some of this salsa if I don't bungle it. I should call him.

When things are really stuck in my stainless, I boil for a couple of minutes with baking soda water. That seems to loosen it.

Y'all have me on the fence 😂😂😂 I thunk I will chop everything up, then remove a cup worth from the pot, add a tiny bit of cilantro, do a taste, and then go from there. Thanks!

No teflon. I have two heavy, stainless steal skillets, one large and one medium size. I have two cast iron skillet, one about 10" diameter, and then a little one that is only 5" or so. I have not had a non stick skillet of any kind for about 25 years.

I am going to have it as a side to tacos on Sunday night, but it is going to be a huge batch because of how many peaches I was given. So I want to can it so we can eat more throughout the winter. That makes me reluctant to put an ingredient in that I might not like since then I'll have several pints of something yucky.

I hate being touched by other men. Hate it. Hate how "huggy" churches are. I barely tolerate the hand shaking. So touching my shoulder, especially from behind, would set off my anxiety. I wouldn't necessarily assume anything specific about the man other than, "Why the hell can't people keep their hands to themselves? Didn't they get the memo way back in kindergarten?" And I always feel like this a paternalistic, misogynistic thing. Why do men think they have a right to touch women who aren't their own family members? Isn't it enough that we have the whole handshake thing as it is? We need the tradition of just bowing, a head nod of acknowledgement to come back! Ya. I probably am not the best person for perspective on this. Op, he is probably embarassed. Don't worry about it. You are not going back anyway.

My parents had my golden brother, and to this day my mother actively defends his horrific behavior and decisions. This propelled me to proactively not favor a child and make sure I was really invested in the uniqueness of each one. It seems to have worked I guess. I have a lovely relationship with each of my adult kids, and adore them all. I can't think of anyway in which I definitely prefer one over the others. Mark definitely favors Dd in adulthood. The boys laugh about it because it comes from giving him three adorable grandsons to play trains and rockets with. 😂😂😂. They are also relieved because they feel this means if they never have any kids of their own, we still have "grandchildren". Meanwhile, given how much I am enjoying my freedom, I think, "3 is fine. We don't need anymore grandchildren." 😁

I have a recipe for peach salsa and will be making it tomorrow. I have 16 red haven peaches, 4 lbs of Amish paste tomatoes, 8 jalapenos, large candy onion, and a big head of garlic plus red chillies if I want to take the heat up a notch. I have looked at several recipes and many call for cilantro. I am not against cilantro. I do use it sparingly. But, I am having a hard time imagining the flavor profile of peach and cilantro. Thoughts? I am pondering leaving it out, unless it is revered as truly wonderful with peaches.