Canning Bee #3- SALSA!

warning: This salsa is so good that I have witnessed my husband (on more than one occasion) pick up the bowl when we're done/out of chips and DRINK what is left... and then look at me guiltily out of the corner of his eye to see if I saw. I always see... with a look of amazement each time.  (Sorry, Baby, the secret's out).

Without further ado...

The best salsa EVAH

*I chuckled after I wrote this because the woman we got the recipe's name is Eva.. 

**so much for that 'without further ado' promise

We begin with a 6-8 quart pan. You need enough tomatoes to fill half the pan and enough onions and bell peppers to fill the other half.

First, put the tomatoes in boiling water for a minute or so. Take them out when the skins start to split open. Drop them in a sink full of cold water. This makes them MUCH easier to peel.

Peel them and slice them up. Just a little. You don't need to cut them up small, just quarter them or so. Also in this step, cut out the bad places. One bad place in a tomato can ruin a whole batch of yummy salsa goodness. (Dustin would probably eat it anyway... it's that good...)

We use a food processor to do the dirty work. Mom used to cut this all up by hand.
 No thank you; I'll take the easy way out, please.

Then she used a crank food processor/chopper.
 No thank you; still too much work.

Now, we both have these. I HIGHLY recommend getting one.

While Sarah peeled and cut tomatoes, I cut up the bell peppers and onions.

Everything goes through the food processor first.

Even the garlic, cilantro, and jalapeno...
(We used one jalapeno with the seeds removed for a mild batch and about 4 small cloves of garlic)

Then, it all goes (after being food processed) into the pan along with the spices.

1 1/2- 2 cups sugar

1 1/2- 2 cups vinegar

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon cilantro (We used fresh, so we ended up using more)

(add more or less of each according to taste)

*My mom doesn't measure.... so the batch you see here is a bit vinegary

Cook/slowly boil for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

After it's cooked, combine 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water in a cup. Slowly stir it into the pot. Stir it up pretty good or it can clump up, she says from experience of eating globs of salsa flavored cornstarch. It is fairly runny before this step but this typically thickens it up enough.

Start to fill the jars (that have been washed beforehand). We use a mug because it is easy to scoop with.Even with the mug, funnel, and towel underneath, this is still a messy, hot step in the process.

Fill the jars and wipe around the rim to make sure none sloshed on the side. 

(Anything on the rim will keep it from sealing).

Then, they go in the canner for 35 minutes for pints or 45 minutes for quarts. These get processed in a water bath. Fill the pot with water to at least 1 inch over the top of the jars. Start the timer when you have a full rolling boil and put the lid on the top. When the time is up, remove from the water and wait for the lid to seal and "pop".

We do pints because we would eat an entire quart every time we opened a jar if they were in bigger jars. We roll like that.

Check out Canning Bee #1 for BEETS

Canning Bee #2 for GREEN BEANS

Up next: Canning Bee # 4: Chopped Tomatoes (to add to soup this winter, yummmmm)