Autumn salsa

The leaves have started their downward spiral.
We rode bikes to the farmers market Thursday night, riding in zig-zags to try to crunch brown leaves under the bicycle tires.
We were very conscious that the end of the summer vegetable and fruit season is near and had plans to stockpile a few things.
The four-pound bags of apples were only $3. Poor Tommy wished we had driven the car instead because he had to tote those around in his backpack.
Last weekend I made an apple pie, which I havent done in about a million years. After the first bite, Tommy put his fork down and insisted that we run out to the store at 10 p.m. to buy vanilla ice cream. Double yum.
At farmers market last week we also visited our favorite vegetable booth across the way from the Lodestar Olive Oil tasting booth.
Jason is a teenage boy who works the booth with his parents. I like it how you get to know the people who sell at the market. You can talk to them about recipes or how hot to expect the peppers to be or whether there will be another batch of corn this year.
Weve gotten to know Jason this summer because Ive been making huge batches of fresh salsa. Because the tomatoes we buy will be chopped up, we pick out the softest or ugliest ones and Jason frequently throws in a few extra. My salsa recipe is fairly basic. Tomatoes, red onion and cilantro. I use the Cuisinart to chop up about 1 1/2 jalapenos and garlic. The key is to squeeze in the juice of one lime. If we have it on hand Ill finely chop some celery, just for some added crunch. Season with salt and pepper.
But now that the season is wrapping up, Ive shifted to my cooked salsa, which I freeze in ice cube trays. One cube defrosted in the microwave for 30 seconds is enough salsa to add to an omelet. Three cubes is enough for a snack of chips and salsa.
Heres the recipe, which I should credit to my friend Donna Garrison, who told me how to do it.
Cut the tomatoes and one full onion and a few jalapenos in half. Place on a cookie sheet and broil in the oven until the tops of them are charred black.
Put in the blender with garlic and cilantro and lime. Liquefy and pour into the ice cube trays.
The charring of the tomatoes gives the salsa a smoky flavor.
Freezing salsa is a little bit like trying to put a little bit of summer away to enjoy later.