Salsa

Neal and I started making our own salsa about 15 years ago. We usually make at least two big batches and can them. We like to can about 80+ pints a year so that we can share with family and friends. We always set aside most of a Saturday to do our canning...and we keep plenty of tortilla chips on hand to try out our salsa! (Our tortilla chip brand of choice is Utz white corn tortilla chips!)

Here it is in the pot. This year we added corn and black beans for extra yumminess!

I put these lids until I was ready to put them in the canner. That way they did prematurely seal.

Here's our basic recipe. We change it and play around with the ingredients until we get the flavor we like.

Neal and Teresa's Salsa

Half of a 20 qt stock pot filled with tomatoes -- peeled and quartered (sorry I can't be more accurate here, but this is a lot of tomatoes)

Cook tomatoes in stock pot about 2 to 3 hours or until desired consistency for salsa (I usually use my electric hand mixer to break up the tomatoes).

Add remaining ingredients and simmer 2 to 3 more hours:
6 medium green peppers, chopped
2 hot banana peppers, chopped
1 jalepeno pepper, chopped
3 six oz cans tomato paste
1 cup vinegar
4 T garlic powder
1 T black pepper
1/4 cup hot sauce
3 medium onions, chopped (I like a sweet onion)
2 T sugar
1 1/2 T salt
4 T oregano
3 T cilantro

Sometimes I make a small batch without cooking it, and we eat it fresh!