It’s canning time again! A good friend from church passed along two big bags of tomatoes, so this morning I lugged my canning supplies down from attic storage and like a kid on Christmas morning, I dug into it. Exciting to find extra boxes of canning flats (lids) which means I can swing that many more pints or quarts than I originally thought!
The only disappointment I experience is slight regret that we haven’t been able to replace the dishwasher that quit on me…however long ago that was (last summer?). Dishwashers are so good for disinfecting jars and rings and keeping your jars on the hot side, which is a requirement when filling with hot salsa. But then, I’m always bragging about how much I love the simple, old-fashioned life, so here’s my chance to put my words into practice!
Nothing like canning to heat up a kitchen! Every burner is busy on my stove…one canner full of cold water and clean jars that can heat up together (ta-da: hot jars ready to fill)…one saucepan with lids and rings keeping hot…one kettle with boiling water to dip tomatoes in before their plunge into chilled water (skin just slips off)…and another kettle handy into which I’ll pour the hot water from the canning jars once I’m ready to exchange their H2O for salsa!
I’d be remiss here if I didn’t recommend the Ball Blue Book Guide to Home Canning, Freezing and Dehydration. Ever want to make Kiwi Jam? Pickled Okra? Peach Butter? This book is a homemaker’s dream. I’d think every woman should have a copy, not knowing what the future holds for our country. I’m not going Y2K on you, just advocating preparedness.
Never canned before? Find a Farm and Ranch Supply store and browse that aisle. You’ll see many tools of the trade. Besides canners, there are jar lifters (a must), wide-mouthed funnels (another must) and magnetic lid/ring lifters (not so necessary, I use a fork and quick fingers to lift mine from the hot saucepan). If you’d rather, just browse canning tools and supplies online…you’ll get hooked, I promise!
The following salsa recipe was one of my top hits last year, though it doesn’t have the hundreds of comments that the Amish Friendship Bread has to show for its popularity. I thought I’d repost it here today. My dh and I think it tastes a lot like the salsa at Carlos O’ Kelly’s, a popular Mexican restaurant here in the midwest.
Mary’s Mild Salsa–makes 10 pints
22 tomatoes (I put in twice as many if they’re on the small-to-medium side)
4 bell peppers, chopped fine
3 onions, chopped fine
1 cup vinegar
3/4-1 cup jalepeno peppers, chopped fine
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt
1 cup (12 oz) tomato paste (I omit this)
Cilantro to taste
3 cloves garlic minced
After getting skin off tomatoes (dip in boiling water 20 seconds, then into cold–skin falls off), put 2/3 of them in blender and blend. Chop the rest of them (if you have a good blender you can blend all veggies together, we like it chunky) and put all ingredients into pot, bring to a boil and then simmer for 25 minutes. Use a ladle and funnel to fill hot jars with salsa, leaving 1 inch headspace. Slip a plastic knife or other non-metal straight object along sides of jar to release any bubbles. Wipe jar rim with clean washcloth for a good seal. Apply lid and ring and put jar into canner. It will be fine as you continue filling pints/quarts till canner is full. Water bathe pints for 15 minutes and quarts for 20.
Some people like to buy salsa “mix” at Wal Mart. I did this one year, and though the label said “mild” it wasn’t! That was a huge waste of my time and tomatoes, not nearly as good as homemade with all the fresh veggie additions and I was the only one who could handle the “heat”. So be warned.
If you want pictures and another recipe, this site has great pictures.
Well, I’m off…
Just two things:
Don’t forget that the Carnival of Modesty deadline is this Friday, August 3rd! Follow this link to submit and join the fun!
Be on the look-out this week, I have a wonderful author interview to post from friend and fellow homeschooler, Amy Wallace. She graciously shared how she schedules everything in, and her favorite curriculums, all in all it’s a very encouraging and uplifting read! As is her book Ransomed Dreams. If you haven’t read it yet, what are you waiting for?
Hi
I left out the vinegar what will that do to it.
Thank you Tami
I canned some salsa today and I used half vinegar and half lemon juice both in the same recipe without knowing if is okay… is that safe to do?
I was hoping to can salsa this year but am having trouble finding the kind of recipe I want that includes black beans & corn. Do you think I could add some fresh frozen corn kernels and a rinsed can of black beans and other wise ‘tweak’ this great recipe and it would still can ok..?
Thanks for your help!
Tami…I do know that you need the vinegar…oops! Your salsa would not be safe to consume according to what I’ve heard. :O( I’m so sorry!!
Maria…that might be safe, but I’m not going out on a limb to say it is. You better ask an expert on that one. I know this recipe that I have posted on my blog is safe…when followed exactly, but beyond that, I have no help!
DeRonda, I’ve never done that but it sounds delicious. Try looking in a Ball’s Blue Book of Canning and Preserving for a recipe like that. They are safety tested and reliable and have a ton of great canning recipes!
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i have your recipe down to a science but along with your set up i added a lrg. bowl with a strainer on top- i sqeeze all the tomatoes until most of the seeds come out and add a 6 oz can of paste. there is still plenty of juice still in the tomatoes as evidenced when processed. All that juice is saved and frozen and used later for soups, stews and sauce. As for heat i use 2 jalapeno and 2 anaheim and this is mild, 1 more of each is medium. When i make this its more like 8 quarts for me–its been a very good year for tomatoes.
thank you so much for sharing such a good recipe, i’ve made 5 batches so far.
Wow! Love this info, Elise! Thanks bunches for taking the time to share it here. Alas, this was not a great year for tomato plants in my neck of the country…I planted 40 tomato plants, and though my cherry and grape toms did well, my larger tomatoes did not. So we had a lot of little tomatoes to munch on and have in salads and a few for slicing. I am glad to have this info here b/c next year’s garden will be better…hopefully…and I’m definitely trying the strainer idea!
Blessings!
Mary
Made your salsa last night… Wow what fun to hear the jars ping… It was my first time canning and my boyfriend and I had a blast.
I added 2 Tablespoon Cumin and 3 Bunches of Cilantro to the recipe along with 6-8 banana peppers… and used all 3 colors of bell peppers. My salsa is a hit at work today and beautiful. Thank you for sharing your tips and receipe. Looking forward to making some pumpkin bread next! Dawn
Salsa is soo good the only problem is it can cost quite a bit if you buy it regularly at your local grocery store. Thanks for providing this recipe for salsa, making your own is a great thing to do!
I just made my first batch of this and its great.. My son loved it… Thank you .
You are so welcome! I keep checking my tomato plants, got some large green tomatoes…no color yet! Come on July! Love this time of year!!! :O)
Just wanted to let you know this is the third year we are using your recipe for salsa! We absolutley LOVE it! I had one person tell me it was *so good makes my tounge stand up and slap my brain!* It is a wonderful addition to make for the canning season. Thank you so much for sharing your delightful recipe!
Thank YOU so much for coming back to tell me! I love that line…brain-slapping good! ;O) My tomatoes are beginning to kick into gear here, so out comes my salsa recipe either today or tomorrow!
I made salsa and it is toooooo hot, Any ideas about what I can do to tone down
Ooh, sorry! Next time, just add your jalapenos a couple at a time to the rest of the ingredients and taste test to see how spicy you want to go. It won’t ruin the recipe to cut way back on jalapenos. In fact, I only had two jalapenos when I was ready to can salsa this summer…and I got a very mild but delicious salsa. So my advice is just to play around with the right amount for your family. HTHs!