My family has always grown a HUGE garden. The tomatoes set and produced like gangbusters this year. I have been dying to put up some homemade salsa and tomato sauce. I use so much sauce in my crock pot recipes and the hubby eats salsa by the gallon. But the problem is that I didn’t know how to can either of those.
So over Labor Day weekend, my Grandma and Aunt Janice offered to teach me. It was SOOO much work but it was awesome! I love making stuff in my Grandma’s kitchen. It reminds me of being a kid again.
Start with the freshest tomatoes a garden can produce. Remove skins and seeds leaving only the yummy pulp and juice…
Pick some yummy green chilies and throw on the grill…
Roast until toasty and blistery and sweat until skins come off…
Take tomato goodness and cook down until you have thick saucy goodness…
Season with yummy veggies and spices and pour into jars and process until sealed tight!
In 13 hours (over two days with many helping hands) I was able to make 14 pints of tomato and roasted chili salsa and 17 pints of tomato sauce. My cupboard is so happy now!!! I can’t wait to savor these goodies in the winter when everything is cold and dreary.
My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures 
I grew up on a family farm that contained gardens and animals. I miss it terribly and wish I had the time and space to return to my roots.
Yum, I do love homemade tomato sauces and salsa. Honestly there’s very little you can do with a tomato I don’t love. This is such a great time of year for produce.
Whew! Sounds like a lot of work! My aunt-in-law has offered to teach me some time, but we haven’t found time for it yet. It looks like you’ll set for tomato sauce for a while!
Mmmm… can almost taste it! …13 hours is worth a winter’s worth of sauce/salsa ❤