Homemade Salsa

So, Wednesday morning mom decided to bring over an abundance of tomatoes and all of the other ingredients for me to make homemade salsa. I call it slave labor, lol... But since I love being in the kitchen, I decided that was pretty cool. I'd make it and she'd enjoy the fruits of my labor.

The recipe she found called for blanching the tomatoes. Well, I did that... And I have to say... NEVER AGAIN! NOT for salsa. It just made them too mushy and in salsa, I happen to like my tomato to be a bit firm. Years ago when I made it, I just cut them up. Next time I make it... you can bet I'll just be cutting them and not skinning them. Would make for a nicer looking salsa and hopefully one that isn't as juicy.

But I do have to say, with the tomatoes, green peppers, onions and jalapenos, and with the few spices I used, along with garlic... It has a really rich incredible flavor.

And that's even on top of my pressure canner not sealing correctly. So I timed it as I normally would, took the hot jars out and turned them upside down on a tea towel. That worked in sealing them, which I thought was good. Time for a new gasket on that thing. I'm thinking I'll possibly make homemade sauerkraut this year, and I'm going to have to can those jars too. And those definitely need a good tight seal.

So, I'm hoping mom likes the flavor of this stuff. She said something about some other uses of her garden tomatoes. Who knows what kind of adventure I'll get into with her ingredients next.