Good Eatin'

[SARGE]

Gal bud and I love travelling the backroads, going thru all the out of the way towns that once boomed - until the Interstates bypassed them. Is cool seeing the old motels with signs saying "refrigerated air", but now they are apartments for the locals versus the travelers long ago. What hasn't changed is old farmer Joe with his truck backed up to the old highway, selling his goods. I'm telling you, this stuff ain't from down south or China. Right off the vine as we say. Ain't nothing like a mess of green beans, purple hull peas, okra, corn, tomatoes, onions, squash - the list goes on. Finish with vine ripe cantaloupe and watermelon. No way this stuff comes from anywhere but the real farm. Sadly, they are a disappearing thing thanks to "free trade".

[TwoRails]

Oh ya! Fresh is the only way to go -- growth is killing a lot of it off, to. I remember when you could go 5 minutes in one direction and be in the big city... 5 minutes the other direction and you are picking your own corn. Now it's all city. Artichokes don't transport well, speaking of locally picked. When I lived in Calf and could get fresh ones, boy-howdy are they good. Up here where they are trucked in, heck, I hardly buy them any more. I've had good luck with oranges, though, when they are out of season. Not sure where they came from but sweet and juicy. Makes me wonder what they are like fresh picked!

[juppy]

That's why we plant a garden every year.....you just can't beat good home-grown veggies. Tomatoes are our main thing. Actually, that's what I'm munching on right now....a batch of fresh salsa that my brother made up earlier today using the stuff out of our garden. Well, I call it salsa, it's actually closer to pico de gallo really. Chopped up tomatoes, onions, and jalapeno peppers, with a good amount of cilantro and salt added in. Only ingredients not grown in our garden are the cilantro and the salt (and yeah, I know, you don't actually "grow" salt.....you know what I meant though ). Might be a small splash of lime juice in there too.....I don't know for sure.....bro makes it, I just EAT it. LOL!

We get those roadside guys selling stuff up here too. There's a guy each year that always sells huge Black Diamond watermelons about a mile from us over on Highway 81. They're really good too.

[Ahura]

Tomato gardens are great, but Jesus....The tomatoes' chemical odors are insane.

[EzyStvy]

And on a related Good Eatin’ subject....Every time I go to the grocery, I bee line it to the clearance sale section in the meat department.

Nuttin better then getting a $15.00 New York Strip for under five bucks

[Detonate]

I would give about anything for a decent watermelon. where I live the stores have those sorry things picked way before they were ready, and they have absolutely no flavor. I was born and raised in the deep south and remember when we would buy our watermelons from the back of a roadside pickup. Picked that morning.

We do have good cantaloupe and sweet corn here.

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by juppy ....a batch of fresh salsa that my brother made up earlier today using the stuff out of our garden. Well, I call it salsa, it's actually closer to pico de gallo really. Chopped up tomatoes, onions, and jalapeno peppers, with a good amount of cilantro and salt added in. ...

Sounds like some good eatin' -- Don't know what the difference is between the two, though... You got me curious, what is the difference between salsa and pico de gallo?

[EzyStvy]

hmmm Detonate....

The chemicals in watermelon work much like Viagra. Give me two more." Just a week after the annual watermelon thump celebration in luling..There's Something new that watermelon growers can hang their hat on. Continued

[TwoRails]

Saw that on the local news. Was at Costco the other day and was going to pick one up as I buy a lot of watermelons during the summer months... and they were sold out!! That's a first! I'm sure that news story had something to do with that!!

[Detonate]

I eat watermelon rind pickles and I have six children. :-)

[sdkfz]

salsa vs pico de gallo

Salsa - ingredients ground in a mortar and pestle - though now a days a blender / food processor is substituted - cooked.
Pico de gallo- ingredients chopped with a knife - raw.

At least that is how it is in my wife's family the Flores and Zuloaga 's from El Paso

[Kubie]

Here in the California Central Valley, we have a selection of roadside fruit and vegetable stands. You normally can see the produce being grown and picked in the fields adjacent to the stand.

Yep Sarge, those fresh vegetables and fruit are really a step up from the supermarket and much more tasty as a bonus along with being somewhat cheaper.

[SARGE]

Originally Posted by Kubie Here in the California Central Valley, we have a selection of roadside fruit and vegetable stands. You normally can see the produce being grown and picked in the fields adjacent to the stand. Yep Sarge, those fresh vegetables and fruit are really a step up from the supermarket and much more tasty as a bonus along with being somewhat cheaper.

And the preacher said, "AMEN". Slice open a tomato from the backyard garden or from the farmer and immediately see the difference. Stuff from the store can't compare, and one has to wonder about the chems used to keep them red, where they come from and of course the taste is a no brainer.

[juppy]

Originally Posted by TwoRails Sounds like some good eatin' -- Don't know what the difference is between the two, though... You got me curious, what is the difference between salsa and pico de gallo?

Hey TR.....I think sdkfz pretty much hit the nail on the head with his explanation. That's the same way I've always heard it too. Salsa seems to have more of a tomato paste "look" to it, whereas the pico generally has a sorta clear liquid in it because everything's raw and chopped, so the juice is just basically the juice out of the tomato. The pico kinda looks like a spoon salad really....everything's just all raw and colorful, not cooked together and mushy like salsa.

Originally Posted by SARGE ...and one has to wonder about the chems used to keep them red...

That's the problem with the store-bought kind, Sarge....I've always heard they're never "red" to begin with, but that they're picked pretty much "green", when they just barely start to get a tinge of red color to them. That way they're more firm so they can survive the long road trip to the markets. That's just what I've always heard.....makes sense as to why they wouldn't have much juice though. I mean, you ever cut open a green tomato? Not much juicey.

[TwoRails]

Thanks juppy and sdkfz. Seems like a lot of folks missuse the word "salsa." Heck, I thought that the fresh chopped 'version' was called salsa freshca (spelling?) as that's what everyone else called it. All I can say is I like 'em both and I like learning new things

[juppy]

Originally Posted by TwoRails Seems like a lot of folks missuse the word "salsa."

I think it's one of those things that's kinda open to interpretation. Case in point.....I used to eat some salsa made by this company called Rojo's. Unlike most salsa, it's sold in the refrigerated section of the grocery store (usually alongside the lettuce and other veggies). Anyway, I used to always eat their "Mild Salsa".....it was good, but the juice was still rather clear, like pico. One day while in the store, I noticed they were stocking Rojo's pico de gallo as well. I thought hey, I'll try that......guess what?....I couldn't tell much difference in that and the salsa I HAD been eating for years!! I actually got a container of each and set 'em side by side to look at and the only thing I could see different was that the onion in the pico was chopped a little bit bigger. Otherwise the flavor and everything was pretty much the same.

[joytime365]

Fresh fruits and vegetables are always good for health.

[TwoRails]

Originally Posted by juppy ......guess what?....I couldn't tell much difference in that and the salsa I HAD been eating for years!! ...

Go figure... I guess I make a "1/2 and 1/2" when I make salsa. I blend and simmer a part of my batch, but approx 2/3 of it is fresh chunky chopped ingredients and then dumped into the pot. (we love it warm, too!) What would you call that? Maybe salsa-pico?

[juppy]

Originally Posted by TwoRails What would you call that? Maybe salsa-pico?

Heheh....yeah, I guess. Maybe "picalsa".

[angie1313]

I know everyone is talking about fresh tomatos but in my opinion you cant beat fresh sweet corn right from the farm....just thinking about it makes me hungry.