Well, I canned for my very first time on Saturday :] It was really only the first time I've done it MYSELF, but I've done it with my mom several times and a friend last year. So I kind of knew the gist of it, but it was fun to do it on my own and figure out how it works best for me! Here are some pictures from our day. I only started taking pictures after the huge mess was cleaned up (only because I forgot to take pictures before; I didn't care about the mess)... straining the tomatoes through the Victorio thing was a mess when you had a little helper! ;]
[cooking the salsa and heating the jars!]
[this was my "filling" station... once the salsa was done cooking, I would bring the jars over here one by one and fill them with salsa. Then I would put the lid on and throw 'em back in the water bath.]
[30 cups of tomatoes, 4 cups of cilantro, 5 cups of onions, 6 cups of peppers, and a whole lotta other good stuff... YUM!]
[my first batch... it was SO great to hear the "pop" when they started to seal!]
[the finished product... YAY SALSA!]
SO DELICIOUS.
It was really fun to do this! It felt like it was a long process, probably because of all the cutting and dicing you have to do. It probably would have taken FOREVER if I didn't have one of these. That baby was my life saver, especially with cutting the onions. I used this with the peppers, too.
I'm still getting more tomatoes from my garden, so I think it would be fun to do some pizza sauce and maybe spaghetti sauce too. I want to can everything! But since our garden didn't give us much of a crop this year (being sick + pregnant will kind of make your garden less of a priority...), it's not the most efficient thing to go out and BUY stuff to can... so I have better plans for my garden next year. My mom and I are going to can applesauce and apple jelly in a few weeks. I'm excited!
I'm still getting more tomatoes from my garden, so I think it would be fun to do some pizza sauce and maybe spaghetti sauce too. I want to can everything! But since our garden didn't give us much of a crop this year (being sick + pregnant will kind of make your garden less of a priority...), it's not the most efficient thing to go out and BUY stuff to can... so I have better plans for my garden next year. My mom and I are going to can applesauce and apple jelly in a few weeks. I'm excited!
2 comments:
SO COOL!!!! We are also getting tons of tomatoes! I would love to can too! Thanks for sharing your recipe! Did you cook the salsa too?
Here is the actual recipe:
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 T chopped garlic
1 cup cider vinegar
10 cups chopped/seeded/cored tomatoes
2 cups chopped/seeded red or green peppers
1 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro
1 T dried oregano
1 T hot pepper sauce
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
I did cook the salsa.... first just the onions, garlic and vinegar until it was boiling, then adding tomatoes and peppers and boiling again. Then I added all the seasonings and let it boil for a few minutes before turning it down and simmering until the peppers were tender.
If you want more help with the actual canning, let me know :]
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