Tomato Canning Adventures Continue!

Admittedly, this post should be about my craft room reno, but we have reached a stalemate with the spikes, and my travel schedule the past 2 weeks. When I have had time at home, I've spent it experimenting with more canning recipes... all with tomatoes.

After my first adventure, I was committed to putting my new canner to more use. Not only that, but I was a little disappointed with the result; 3 cans of tomato sauce was NOT going to last the winter!

After a week of sunny weather, the tomatoes left in my garden still had not ripened, so I purchased half a bushel of roma tomatoes from a local farm market for $8. I immediately whipped up a batch of tomato sauce, using the same recipe as last time. My home once again filled with the sweet aroma of boiled tomatoes, cinnamon and nutmeg. A few hours later, and I had several quart jars of sauce.

A few days later, with the remaining tomatoes quickly being devoured by time and my cat (she ate at least a quart), I decided to try my own salsa. I know salsa is easy to make, but having never tried a canned salsa before, I wasn't sure how many jalepenos or hot peppers to use. Bf and I had picked up fresh, Ontario hot peppers when we bought the tomatoes, and now I had five at my disposal. Hold your giggle; I didn't use all 5! I snipped the tip off one, and deciding it was pleasantly warm, chopped it up and threw it in. A few slices of pickled jalepeno and my home was beginning to smell like the local Mexican cafe we love.

I cruised around the internet and ended up with a combination recipe from several websites.

Savvy Homegirl's Salsa Recipe
10lbs (approx) tomatoes
2 C green peppers
3 large onions
1 hot pepper
3 slices of jalepeno
3 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp pepper
1 Tbsp chile pepper
5 garlic cloves minced or pressed
3/4 C vinegar

Boil the tomatoes until the skins split, then submerse in cold water and remove the skins. Puree half the tomatoes in a blender and heat in large stock pot on the stove. Chop remainder of tomatoes into quarters, sixths or eights depending on size. Finely chop remaining veggies, press garlic and add all veggies and spices to the pot. Add vinegar, stir and bring pot to a boil.

I know I could've got away without using my canner to seal my salsa jars, however the canner worked well to sterilize my jars before filling them. Especially since it seemed like I started the salsa while my dishwasher was mid-wash, and I had not thought to put the jars in it.

The result? 14 jars of salsa with just enough heat to spice up your nachos, but not enough to make you sweat. I also had just enough tomatoes left for a pot of homemade tomato soup. Paired with Sobey's new Swiss Multigrain Bread, and you have a scrumptious fall lunch!