I'm Salsa-ing!

Not the dance, Silly! Now that would be something. Something scary! What I meant was I am making salsa. Actually, I am finally DONE! I have spent the last week, at least half a day every day, canning salsa. I ended up with about 45 quarts and 20 pints. I know what you are thinking: "WHAT? What are you going to do with all of that salsa?" To answer your question, since I started last week Dan, Tannon and Dawson have already eaten 4 quarts. No kidding. They love this stuff. They would drink it if it wouldn't burn their vocal cords off. I must admit, I love it too. We are definitely a salsa family! 60 quarts just about gets us through a year. Plus I need to be able to send some to Easton on his mission. It is not September without freshly canned salsa!

Dan's dad is a master gardener. He is a hard working and very generous man. Over the past week he has supplied me with nine 5-gallon buckets of beautiful and tasty tomatoes, two 5-gallon buckets of onions, a 5-gallon bucket of garlic, four 5-gallon buckets of green and red peppers, and one 5-gallon bucket of some very hot and spicy jalapeno peppers....all from his amazing garden. He does it for me every year. I love this man.

So, to make a long story not go on any longer, I thought I'd share a few photos of one of the things that has kept me busy this past week as well as my recipe (if you want to make as much as I did, plan on making about 15-20 batches). I hope you like!

Karen Pedersen's Salsa
single recipe makes 5-6 pints or about 3 quarts

Wash and scald tomatoes. Peel. My family likes smooth salsa so at this pint I gently puree the in my blender, but this step is not necessary. Cut in quarters if you are not pureeing. Cook for at least 1 hour in a large heavy pot. Skim off juice while cooking.

Chop the following by hand or food processor. I puree these too, not until it is totally liquid but until it is a nice thick and smooth paste. Be sure to wear gloves while doing your jalapeno peppers. If they are good, hot ones they will blister your bare hands.

2 large white onions
1 sweet read pepper
2 large green peppers
1/2 medium sized garlic clove, minced
2-4 jalapeno peppers (I love my salsa HOT so I use at least 4 of the hottest peppers I can find. If you leave your seeds in it will be even hotter. I leave the seeds in.)

MIx this in the tomato mixture in the pot and cook down another 45-minutes - 1 hour. The longer you cook it the thicker it will be, but it will also make less salsa.

Then add:
1 Tbs. white sugar
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
6 tea. salt

Cook again for another 30 minutes. Fill bottles and process* for 10 minutes to seal.

Note from Karen:
*I have never processed my jars in the 15+ years I have canned salsa. If you turn them over right after putting your lids on, they will seal from the heat. I just lay out several layers of towels on my kitchen talbe and turn my jars upside down there and leave them over night. I have never not had a jar seal.

By the way, this is my 2nd post today so be sure to check out the first one. Happy canning, everyone!