Salsa!

Take all of this:


(that's 20 lbs of tomatoes, 4 large bell peppers, 4 large onions, 2 heads of garlic (what fun to peel), jalapenos/hot peppers, sugar, vinegar, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and cilantro)

...and cook those tomatoes down first...


Then add everything else:


And cook it down...


...for at least an hour, and then hit it with the immersion blender (and how is THAT not fun!! Woo hoo! Splash!)...


...and add it to the stock for this coming winter. That's strawberry jam and lotsa pickles in the background, and 12 jars of salsa in the foreground.


Considering how many monster-sized tomatoes have yet to ripen on the vine, I've a feeing I'll be able to make another batch of this before summer is over! (Oh yay, what fun - I HATE my Aunt Nadine for getting me hooked on her salsa years ago....hopefully this year will be my closest match to her batch. Two years ago it turned a little too...Italian?)

It took about an hour and a half just to scald, core, peel and chop all those tomatoes along with the chopping of all the other veggies and measuring out ingredients. And then there's hours of cooking and canning. Frustrating today, but it'll be sooooo worth it as we're snacking on homemade salsa this winter!