Taste of Home: Canning & Preserving

Tweet A few months ago my Mommy in law mailed me a wonderful present. It was a copy of the 2012 Taste of Home Canning and Preserving magazine. I love putting a seed in the ground, watering, pampering, and harvesting. The final touch is turning that harvest into something delicious for my family.

One way that I keep that harvest feeding my family throughout the year is to can & preserve. My Mommy in law knows how much I love this final step. She was so sweet and blessed me with the 2012 Taste of Home Canning & Preserving magazine. It is filled with oodles of fantastic recipes.

My tomatoes are coming on very nicely. I had about 40 medium tomatoes ripen over the weekend. There was a recipe in the magazine for mild salsa that I mostly liked. I can never seem to follow a recipe exactly as it is written. I added cilantro and lots more hot sauce than it called for. I omitted the jalapeno peppers because I didn't have any on hand. I thought I had tomato paste but it turns out it was tomato sauce. Se la vi! Tomato sauce it was!

Ingrediants

40 medium tomatoes, I used mostly plum tomatoes, peeled and cut up
4 green chopped peppers
3 large chopped onions
3 small cans of tomato sauce
1 3/4 cups of white vinegar
1/2 cup of sugar
1 medium chopped red pepper
1 chopped celery rib
15 minced garlic cloves
1/4 cup of canning salt
lots of hot pepper sauce

Directions

Cook the tomatoes for twenty minutes over medium heat. Drain, but save two cups of the liquid. Put the tomatoes back in the pot. Stir in the remaining ingredients including the two cups of reserved liquid. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for one hour stirring frequently. Put the salsa into hot jars but leave 1/4 inch of head space in your pint jars. Add heated up canning lids and secure the rings. Process the jars for twenty minutes in a boiling water bath. Let your salsa set covered with a dry towel for at least 12 hours. You will hear a wonderful "ting" that will let you know that your can has sealed.