Friends with Benefits

...no, not THAT kind., silly monkey!  I have a couple friends who fortunately are great at growing things that I don't, and even better, they love to share their bounty with me.  The other day my friend Chris dropped off a basket of peaches and peppers, and the next day my friend Randy gave me a bag filled with plums.  It's amazing to bite into a fresh, home-grown piece of fruit.  It tastes nothing like what you get at your supermarket.  When I was a kid, my grandparents had an orange tree in their backyard, and I ate as much as it would give. They were the sweetest, juiciest oranges I've ever eaten, and I've spent many years since trying to find one at the farmers' market that gives me that same rush of flavor.  It rarely happens, but perhaps it's just that reality is never as sweet as our memories.  But my love of home grown, just-picked produce comtinues to this day.

With more than enough of these to just eat as is, I set out to find a fun way to use them...and bring them together..... Stone Fruit Salsa!! 

Pretty simple, pretty delicious!  And all of the ingredients came from my garden, my friends' gardens or my fridge:
peaches, plums, basil, red onion, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, maple syrup (helps balance the heat of the pepper), salt and pepper.  No trip too the store.  Got to love that!  Grow, grow, grow stuff! Or at keast have friends that do!

This is going to grace grilled halibut fillets tonight, but would be equally delicious over chicken breasts, or as salsa likes to be used best, with a bowl of crispy chips.  Dig in!

Stone Fruit Salsa
Makes 2 cups

2 peaches, diced
1 plum, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1/3 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon grade B maple syrup
Pinch salt and pepper

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let stand 20 minutes for flavors to combine,

Yum it up!