Here is my Salsa for canning recipe for those of you who want to try canning. Canning is not hard, it just has a lot of steps, but it’s soooo worth it. Get two big kettles, and a canning kit that is $5, it comes with a jar grabber, a large mouth funnel, and a hot lid grabber that has a magnet on the end. If you don’t have a dishwasher that can sterilize your wide mouth pint jars, then just wash them in soapy water, rinse well, then put them in your big kettle and bring water to a boil and let them cook for about 15 min. or longer to sterilize… keep them in there in hot water until you’re ready to ladel your salsa into the jars. In a smaller pan (4 qt.?) put some water and place the lids in (not the band rings, those can just be kept in a bowl till your ready to use them)… anyway, bring your lids to a boil and let them simmer on med heat until your ladeling salsa into your jars, then you get them out by using your magnet on a stick. ; )

What I do is prepare my salsa first since this takes the longest, and then after it’s all in the pot and has been cooking for about an hour, then I do all the jar preperation for the actual canning. When the salsa is to the desired thickness, ladel with a clean 1 cup dry measuring cup into your jars using the widemouth funnel. Fill to about 1/2 inch from the top and then place on the lid, then bands, and after all the salsa is canned, place all the jars into the hot water left over in the big kettle that you boiled the jars in and process for about 15 min. (the 15 minutes is for my altitude of 6,000 ft. and lower altitudes take less time, but I would just do 15 min. to be sure.) After processing time is over, take out the jars with the jar grabbers and place them on the counter to cool, you’ll hear the lids pop as the vacume seals the lids. Later after they are cool, you may need to tighten the bands just a tad. Voila! Easy and sooo worth it.

Salsa
16-18 Cups Chopped Fresh Tomatoes
6 Large Onions Coarsly chopped
½ Cup Sugar
4 Cups chopped Jalapeno’s – with seeds
1/3-1/2 Cup Pickling Salt
2 Tbsp. Gephardt’s Chili Powder (found in Mexican food isle)
1 & 1/2 tsp. crushed red chili peppers (like the kind that some pizza joints have that you can sprinkle on your pizza)
2 tsp. White Pepper
2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1&1/2 tsp. Alum powder (found in seasoning section)
2 Tbsp. Chopped Garlic
2 Medium Green Peppers – chopped
2 large cans Chopped Green Chilies
2 bunches of Cilantro, chopped
1 small can Tomato Paste
1 can Tomato Soup

Mix all ingredients in a very large steel or enamel kettle. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer & cook a few hours, uncovered, or until it reaches a thick consistency. Stir frequently to keep from sticking. Ladle into hot sterilized jars & seal with boiled lids, and then place on bands. After all jars filled & sealed, process 15 min. in a boiling hot water bath. Makes 16-20 pints.