It’s Salsa Time!

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Happy Summer farmgirl friends!!

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I am ridiculously crazy about salsa. I do not prize myself on being any kind of a salsa connoisseur, I just know that I love it.

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And when you have ugly tomatoes and jalapeños ripening all at the same time in your garden…. you put up some salsa for the winter! Here are my step by step pictures with a printable recipe at the bottom of the post.

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Use all your ugly, scraggly tomatoes and place them in a large pot of boiling water. Leave them for just a couple of minutes.

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Remove them from the boiling water into a large bowl and immediately cover with cold tap water. Cut out the cores and ugly parts and the skin will just slide right off.

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And now they don’t look quite so ugly anymore!

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Chop them up to the size you’d like. I don’t like my salsa to have huge tomato chunks, so I dice mine fairly small.

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Cut your jalapeños in half and remove the seeds. It is the seeds that gives the heat to the salsa, so I leave quite a bit of them.

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Chop them up into small chunks. I cut an onion up to about the same size chunks.

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I had a bunch of these little yellow tomatoes in my garden so I chopped them up (peel and all) to give some color.

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Throw all your ingredients (including seasonings) into a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. (I do this outside on my porch. I love setting up an outdoor canning area in the summer time. Keeps the mess and the heat out of the kitchen.)

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Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Place the lids on tightly.

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Place jars in large stock pot with boiling water. Process for 15 minutes.

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Remove from stock pot and let cool.

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And then do what I do… sit down on the porch with a good book and some chips and salsa!

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Our flower garden is blooming profusely and my daughter and I (and our customers) are loving all the gorgeous blooms!

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I hope your summer is going well and your gardens are producing bountifully!  Until our gravel roads cross again… so long.

Dori

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P.S. Printable salsa recipe below!

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[recipe title=”Jalapeño Salsa” servings=”6-8 pints” difficulty=”intermediate”]

Ingredients
5 cups peeled, cored and chopped tomatoes
1 cup chopped jalapeño peppers
1 cup chopped onion
3 cloves minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
2 teaspoons oregano
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 cup cider vinegar

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a stock pot. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

[/recipe]

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  1. Carol says:

    Sounds like a delicious idea, but I won’t be making salsa unless I buy some tomatoes as we have had no luck with ours this year.

  2. maryann says:

    Dori

    I like your recipe, I too love to eat salsa all summer long. I love tomatoes and this is how my big garden started. I found something that makes chopping a lot easier and I found it because I love to make soups in winter and this saves time- I think it’s called the “Vidalia chopper”, it makes large and small chunks, all uniform and makes salsa and soups (onion, celery, carrots) easier and time saving. Thanks for recipe.

  3. calle says:

    Do you have high winds I your area?

    We have tried a camping stove but getting the temps high enough can take a long time.

    I want to use my pressure canners also out of doors.

    We do not have central AC and it has been around 105/109 some days at 5:30 pm.

    Looks good and with a glass of homemade lemonade it is perfect.

  4. Joan Price says:

    Great recipe!!!! and oh my your flowers are beautiful!! Nothing much happening in my area, late freezes and now been getting some storms so garden will need a while and the flowers will have to be next year. Thanks for sharing your lovlies. God bless.

  5. Krista says:

    I love homemade fresh salsa. I never make batches big enough to can (because I eat it all) but I’m hoping this year I will have enough tomatoes so I can. I am not a big fan of spicy so I add sugar to make it sweet! On Wednesday I made a small batch of mango salsa and it turned out delicious. Looking forward to when my tomatoes are ready to be made into salsa. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

  6. Susan Lazarou says:

    Love salsa and won’t forget my first time i made it…i turned the mix by hand and couldn’t feel a thing for three days….the heat from the halapenos took away my migraine but my hands couldn’t feel a thing for days. Remind people to wear gloves when you cut and handke the peppersdp for the salsa, because the halapeno pepper are hot.,,.and you don’t have need to use mire than four for the recipe.

  7. Susan Lazarou says:

    Love salsa and won’t forget my first time i made it…i turned the mix by hand and couldn’t feel a thing for three days….the heat from the halapenos took away my migraine but my hands couldn’t feel a thing for days. Remind people to wear gloves when you cut and handke the peppers for the salsa, because the halapeno pepper are hot.,,.and you don’t have need to use more than four for the recipe.

  8. Jamie Pate says:

    I did what you said and therefore, salsa in jars all over the cabinet counters. Thank you! it was fun and my kids in San Antonio can’t wait for me to visit and bring them homemade salsa from my garden. It was fun and easy also. Thanks again.

  9. Ellen Gerard says:

    Hello Dori, I wanted to tell you how good your salsa recipe is! The only problem is – we ate it all☺ lol. Am going to have to make more soon and double the recipe! Hope your summer is going good! Thanks for the great recipe. Looking forward to your next post☺ Ellen

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