When the tomatoes are ripe

 From the Garden Recipe for Salsa with Fresh Tomatoes

Fall is a beautiful time of year, a crafter’s dream I often say.  It is also, a very very busy time of year, for many people.

The focus here was getting all of the produce out of the garden before it sustained any frost damage.  We are in northern Ontario, and it has always happened that we have a ‘surprise’ frost, followed by weeks of really nice weather.  We have a plan for frost.  I will tell you more about our battles with the frost in another article, but for now, I want to focus on the good stuff.

Homemade Salsa!

So, there are some recipes I follow to a T. If I am missing an ingredient, I will substitute as best as I can.  Some that come to mind are fudge recipes, jams, roasts – mostly because all the figuring has been done, and who am I to mess with a good thing.  There are however a couple of recipes where I pretty much wing it, and use whatever I have on hand.  This is true for my spaghetti sauce recipe, and salsas. 

Here is one of the recipes I used for Salsa this year –

5 1/2 lbs fresh tomatoes – peeled and chopped

 

3 med onions – chopped finely

3 bell peppers – chopped finely ( I used red this year, but any colour will do)

Juice from 1 lime

1/3 cup vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbsp. pickling salt

2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

approx. 4 500 ml jars with lids to seal

Prepare your jars and lids

Mix all ingredients in a large stainless steel pot

Heat until boiling lightly

Fill jars

Seal and process jars

*Always follow safe canning procedures. 

Kids can help by washing the vegetables, and measuring out the ingredients.  Kids can also clean the seeds out of the bell peppers – HOWEVER, DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS SEED HOT PEPPERS.  If you use hot peppers at all ever, use gloves to handle the seeds, and then wash your hands straight away.  Hot pepper seeds sting your eyes like mad.  Yes, I have done it.  YOUCH!