I took lots of pictures so you could see all the steps (well, most of them)!
I started with salsa because I've been out of mild salsa for a couple of months, and I've been looking forward to this salsa since the winter, it's a very different flavor! I got this recipe from my favorite Christmas present last year (from Chrissy).....
So remember the tomatoes from my last post, the cut-up ones? I got those cooking.....
In the meantime, I cut up the little yellow tomatoes, which are essential in this salsa because they are soooo yummy!!.....
When the tomatoes in the pan had softened, I ran them through the food mill and measured the puree -- I needed 8 cups of tomatoes, but I didn't have enough even with the gold ones added, so I peeled and chopped several more until I got the right amount....
Then I needed the rest of the ingredients -- mild, yummy peppers.....
....onion....
....and cilantro.....
Then, cook it all up!!! There's also garlic, oregano, and (surprisingly, but deliciously) apple cider vinegar!....
After filling the jars, they go in the canner to boil.....
.....and when that's done, onto the counter to cool -- I love hearing the lids snap as they cool and seal....
ALL DONE!!!
This took most of the day! The cutting and chopping is the most time-consuming....the rest is pretty quick!! So now these will sit in the pantry for 2-3 weeks, so the flavor deepens - then we can eat them up! By then, there will be many more jars in there with them!! :-D
Oh, it's so exciting!
And remember that there was basil in the piles of food from the garden? Well, yesterday, I tied it in bunches so I could hang it to dry (haha!)......
I guess I need a drying rack (or something else! LOL) Hey - this works FINE! :-D And, it makes the kitchen smell so delicious!! When they are dried, I will crumble them up and put them in a spice container for winter. It's almost time to clip the marjoram and thyme, too!
*SIGH!* So that was my day today!! It was probably pretty boring to most people, but I loved it! I can't wait to get back to it tomorrow!!! ^-^
You have been a busy little bee! Your salsa looks wonderful. We are still waiting for tomatoes to ripen at our house -- we've gotten just one so far. I've been busy playing with plums and blackberries and peaches. I agree, canning is time-consuming (and energy-consuming ;) ) but it feels so good to gaze at those jars once we're done! I have that same canning book as you do -- have made a few things out of itso far (the Thai hot & sweet dipping sauce, to use up some home-grown garlic; the chocolate-berry sauce, which was my very favorite thing I preserved last year). I agree, it's a wonderful book! Anyway, it was fun reading about all your kitchen productivity. Good to meet you ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Lynn! Wow, thanks for commenting! :-) I loved reading it, and it's fun to have a fellow canning enthusiast say "hi" - I don't see many of our kind!! LOL It's very good to meet you too, now I'm off to check out YOUR blog! ;-)
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