An Adventure in Canning

When Grandpa and Grandma G came to visit and bring our pup back to us they also brought with them a ton of fresh veggies that were ready in their huge garden. We gave some of it away to my Uncle and Aunt and also to some friends, but there were still a ton of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers to get used up. So I decided to try my hand at canning, and now with the help of my mom I now have several jars of salsa and pickles that I can use throughout the year...if they last that long ;)

For the salsa I started off buying some jars, a canning kit, and the ingredients from this recipe. For the pickles I just picked up this packet from Walmart...won't detail that as it really wasn't anything too difficult, and I didn't take pics ;)

The first batch of salsa my mom and I hand chopped all the fresh veggies...the second batch I decided to work smarter and pulled out the Pampered Chef manual processor and let it do most of the chopping. It worked great, it will chop it pretty small if you take the time. I also put on some gloves when working with the jalapenos just so I didn't feel the burn from their oils accidentally. Also on the second batch I left half the seeds in to give it an extra kick.

While I was chopping I had two pots on the stove, one was sterilizing the jars and the other had the tomatoes I cleaned and scored. In order to get the skins off you boil them in water, time will depend on how many and the size, but with in a couple of minutes you should pull them out and dump them in an ice bath.

Once they are cool enough to handle the skins should peel right off.

Once all the ingredients were chopped, I dumped everything together to cook for a bit.

I mashed the tomatoes once I got all the ingredients together.

Once it cooked and thickened up I started filling the jars and then processing them in a hot water bath.

I boiled them for 20 minutes, 2 at a time.

Once processed I took them out and double checked to make sure they were tight...then I waited for that pop. Luckily all of the jars gave that pop, after all that work it would have been depressing if it didn't work.

We have taken a couple of jars to some functions and everyone seems to enjoy it and have given it two thumbs up. If you ever come for a visit bring a bag of chips and we will provide the salsa!