8.12.2009

Homemade Salsa



We recently visited my great grandfather (some of you may know him as Dad) and my great Aunt Mary for a weekend in Knoxville, Tenn. He loves a good homegrown tomato, and each year he plants upwards of 40 tomato plants in his garden.

Well, he saved us about 50 tomatoes, and we got home last week and made some tasty, tasty salsa! We had so much, we canned 11 1/2 quarts of salsa!

And while we were at it, we picked some jalapenos from our garden and canned them, too! We canned 8 1/2 pints of jalapenos.



I love canning our own vegetables! It's a wonderful feeling to accomplish something that will last. It's also a way to keep from wasting food that is all ripe at once, while saving it for a time when you can't get fresh items in season. I hope to do more canning in the future.

Grandpa and Aunt Mary gave us their pint canner since they don't use it anymore ... Thank you so much! Also a big shout out to Megan who helped prepare the tomatoes and other vegetables to go in the salsa—You rock!

What do you can? I am also looking to dry some of my herbs for the winter ... Anyone got any experience in that? It'll be my first time, and I could use some pointers.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Like your Grandpa, I no longer can though I use to can tomatoes and make sauce for the winter, freeze corn right on the cob, and pick green beans and immediately freeze them. Love the photos of you and your jarred veggies. Now I go to a local farm stand several times a week and buy what is in season. How I love the foods of summer. The only thing I jar is jelly, mostly Maine blueberry jelly or local peach jelly or wild blackberry jelly. I make small batches so I don't have to go through the whole canning process.

Wish I could taste that salsa... it sure looks good!

Mandy said...

It's delicious! I love summer foods as well, and I'm so excited about the opportunity canning presents! How do you do your jellies? That's something I could definitely get behind!

Megan said...

I never got any salsa...