I woke up crying this morning. That may be a bit TMI… but I do want to keep it real here and this site is not only my bookish release – it is also my record of what life is now like in this after Justin world.
With that said – the word for the week is CANNING.
With a couple of people offering me up the tomatoes they were not going to use themselves, I have found that the process of canning keeps my mind busy, and while doing so, I am listening to Gone With The Wind for book club – so double duty.
Today I thought I would share with you for Weekend Cooking and Saturday Snapshot, a look into my canning world – and a recipe bonus.
I inherited a lot of tomatoes.
And more than what is pictures as I went back to this one ladies house two times with 4 totes and filled them all each time. So I have been making salsa (red and green), spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, sliced green tomatoes for friend green tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, basil tomato sauce… and enough cucumbers to make 12 jars of pickles.
One of my favorite recipes is the one for salsa. I LOVE salsa. I love to make it fresh but I have discovered a salsa recipe that Al and I both devour with satisfaction. And that is what I will share with you today:
You will need:
14 cups of cored and peeled and then chopped up tomatoes
5 cups of dices onion
5 cups of diced green pepper
1/4 cup of fresh diced jalapeno peppers
5 Tablespoons of cumin (I use the hotter one I find in our local grocery)
1/4 cup of Cilantro
1/4 cup of sugar
3 Tablespoons salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup lemon juice
Still all of this together and simmer in a large pot around 20 minutes. Process into hot sanitized pint jars with a 1 teaspoon of lemon juice in the bottom of each jar. Seal and place in a large boiling hot water canner for 15 minutes. Be sure that all lids seal before storing (I leave them on my counter for a day to check them.) Delicious with chips or over chicken. Also makes a lovely gift.
Today… I continue. I have tomatoes ready to make another batch of the basil tomato sauce, and apples ready to start apple butter. Later today I am going to try my had at home made siracha which involved my peppers witting in a vinegar bath overnight. We will see….
On another note, Banned Book Week starts tomorrow… CRAZY how fast that came up. For those of you signed up to participate I will send out an email today, for the rest of you – its not to late to sign and be sure to participate too as there will be giveaways and a lot of fun!
Be sure to check out Weekend Cooking and Saturday Snapshot for other things cooking and happening around the world.
Book Journey 
Your salsa sounds delicious! I just may have to get bak into canning.
Oh wow, you are ambitious. Now I feel like a slacker for only making 10 jars of tomato puree from my garden!
I love that you have the space to store all this! It’s one of those “dreams” of mine 🙂 Everything looks fantastic and thanks so much for the recipe, Sheila 🙂
I love salsa, too! How great to be able to make it….and how wonderful that you have had enough tomatoes coming in.
I am ready for Banned Book Week…I have my book, too.
Here is MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT POST
Wow! That’s a lot of tomatoes! You and your family are all set for winter. How nice to have a taste of summer in the middle of February. Your salsa recipe sounds delicious.
My Saturday Snapshot post is HERE.
I love salsa too and usually eat the black bean and corn kind. Your recipe sounds really good though.
So many tomatoes! I love tomatoes, tomato sauce, and salsa. Thanks for sharing your wonderful photos, Sheila. Enjoy!
Whoa! That’s a lot of tomatoes. I admire your perseverance!
Wow…that is a lot of tomatoes! I am amazed at your canning prowess!
Wow, it all looks great! I still have some green ones left myself, but I’ve never bothered canning/freezing them before! Will have to check out some recipes for that too!
Lots and lots of tomatoes! Cheers
Wow, what a crop.
All those cans are gorgeous! I’d really love to learn how to can. It’s one of those things I know I can do but I’m just not quite sure how to get started. Hopefully I’ll make it happen next summer. The salsa looks delicious!
Your first sentence struck me today Sheila as I dreamt of my father last night. I know losing a parent isn’t the same as losing a child and dad’s been gone nearly 4yrs, but he was in my dream very vividly last night. We discovered he hadn’t really died but had gone away to hide because of his dementia and he and my mother were keeping that a secret.
Of course I saw him wither away in a matter of six weeks so I know it’s not true, but I still remember the sense of relief in my dream….
I’m sure you wake up crying many days and I can understand why.
That salsa sounds wonderful!
Wow!! Look at all those beautiful jars! There is something so wonderful about opening a jar of summer goodness when it’s cold and dark out in the winter.
I can imagine more days than not involve crying. Staying busy is a good thing.
You know, I’ve never tried canning… always thought it looked too complicated. All those jars of goodness are inspiring though.
Wow, I can’t believe the abundance of tomatoes. I’ve never tried canning before but I love fresh salsa too.
My mom and I used to make pickles. They were always terribly soft and mushy but we had great fun thinking of names for our pickles. I don’t remember actually eating them.
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Amazing amount of tomatoes and I admire all the canning you did, including for the salsa. Yum.