Wow, today sure has been a busy one! I have been picking ripe or near ripe tomatos all week, along with some red, yellow and green peppers and loads of cucumbers. And, I do mean LOADS! (Does anyone have any good cucumber recipes or ideas of what or how to preserve them? I am running out of ideas)
Anyway, I decided after looking at the garden and what was already inside on the counter and in baskets, I thought today would be the day to get started on putting some of the bounty of the garden up for winter since it wasn't as hot as it has been lately, but let me tell you, with the stove on all evening it heated up the living room and kitchen just as bad. I am so glad we have a pool now that we can go get into whenever we want or need to!
So eartly this afternoon my grandgirls and my son helped me gather the rest of the ripe veggies from the garden. (We brought in 4 filled, heavy plastic bags, like the ones you get at some stores.). Then I made a quick run to the store to get some onions and garlic along with some jalapeño peppers so some of the salsa will be spicy.
With help and encouragement from the 2 year old I stood at the counter and chopped, diced and sweat my way through about 4 hours, prepping the veggies for processing. I am sure glad I am through with that. Most days I don’t mind chopping veggies myself, but when I start canning sometimes I wish I had a good food processor to help. My fingers are sore and the one that guides the knife feels almost blistered! Ouch!
So anyway here is the recipe for the salsa I decided on this year, most of the veggies fresh from the garden:
My 2011 Salsa mix for canning:
20 cups diced home-grown red and yellow tomatos
2 cups each diced, red, green, yellow and orange peppers
2 cups diced celery
2 cups of diced onion
1 head of garlic crushed and diced
2 cups diced seeded and peeled cucumbers (because they are getting put into most everything since there are so many!)
jalapeños as desired (I make two batches out of this and the second smaller one is the one I put the jalapeños in)
I dip my tomato’s into boiling water for a couple of min and then peel, because it just pulls right off when hot. Then dice into small bits and toss skins and seeds.(warning: it is very messy and very hot work, but very worth it in the end)
Dice all the other vegetables
Add everything to 2 large pots unless you have a gigantic one, salt, pepper and cumin, oh and 1 can of tomato paste if you wish to thicken it up a little, then bring to a boil for a few minutes and remove from heat,
Put mix into sterilized jars, leave about ½ head space, then wipe tops of jars clean and place seal onto jar with ring, just barely tighten ring
Place jars into canner rack and process in boiling water for 20 minutes. Then let the jars cool on towel away from drafts that could cause bottles to crack
Let sit until room temp. then check the lids for seal, mark remove ring and store
Note: I use this not just for a good salsa, but as a started for chili, soup, spaghetti sauce, enchiladas, and so on. It adds a flavor that you just can’t get in a can from the store!!
I’ll tell you what, as I sit here thinking about all those cukes out in the kitchen I am really perplexed as what to do with them. they aren’t pickling cukes so that is out, I have made plenty of my kimchi and lots of cucumber and onions but I am out of ideas on what to do with the rest besides load up the neighbors!!
So blog friends, I will really try to post more often, forgive me for being so lax, however it has been a good year for the garden and between that and keeping my son educated. (I guess the new term for the way he learns is unschooled!) I also must find ways to keep him occupied along with training a puppy and watching the grandgirls (of course that ain’t really work, I love having them over on the weekends) I guess my days are pretty full and some days I don’t even get a chance to read let alone post. I am going to try to get a little caught up on reading tonight after this post if my eyes don’t slam shut on me. J
Until next time, Deb~
