4 Pints Gone!

After canning what seemed like 500lbs of tomatoes, I am now the proud parent of 18 pints of salsa and 12 quarts of pasta sauce. I had already done 16 quarts of pickles and 16 quarts of salsa over the weekend, so I'm on a roll. This is my very first effort in canning so I think I'm doing pretty well.

Ok--here's the salsa recipe, by popular demand. It's from the Ball Blue Book and I've noted my changes below the recipe.

Zesty Salsa 
yield: about 6 pints (I found that a doubled recipe is more like 14+ pints)

10 cups chopped, seeded, peeled, cored tomatoes (about 6 lbs)
5 cups chopped and seeded long green peppers (about 2lbs)

5 cups chopped onions

2.5 cups chopped and seeded hot peppers (about 1 lb)

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons cilantro, minced

3 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 cups cider vinegar

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot, adding hot pepper sauce, if desired. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

My changes:

1. I used 2 cups of green peppers and 3 cups of red peppers for the "5 cups of long green peppers". If you use more greens than red, the salsa ends  up looking very green in color.
2. I used Anaheim peppers for the hot peppers. Keeping it mild means my 7 year old will eat it.
3. Garlic. Yeah, that's not nearly enough garlic. I used 20 cloves.
4. Don't skimp on the onions.
5. I don't seed my tomatoes. Nobody complains and I don't think it's a huge deal.

Enjoy! Let me know if you make some, I'd love to hear how it turns out.