I took on the uknowningly huge task of making salsa. And not that kind that you just whip up for a cocktail party from fresh tomatoes and white onion. But the kind that requires 20 pounds of garden grown tomatoes, and the addition of flavourfull veggie components. Little did I know the actual amount of work it requires to complete this task. The how-to step-by-step instructions the internet gave me the impression that was I was doing was SO worth, that I would never buy Old El Paso again.
Step 1 is to remove the skins of the tomatoes. This requires boiling them in hot water, then flashing them in cold ice water. You then bring them over to the sink to remove the skins by gently squishing each fruit.
Step 2 is to remove as many seeds and as much water from tomato as possible.
Step 3 is to chop the heck out those red little guys.
Then put all the chopped up tomato guts in a bit pot, and mix in the cut up other veggie fixins (peppers, onion, cilantro, garlic, you name it).
MMMMMMMM tomato stew!! (no, it's just salsa!)
Once the salsa is nice and hot (temperature wise), and hot enough for your taste buds, it's time to put the mixture into starilized jars.
Labels add a nice touch too.
Oh but wait, before you label them, make sure you boil the sealed jars in water for at least 15 minutes each! Contamination is bad!
It's much better if you own a real canning set. I simply used to large soup pots. So my jars would bounce around in the pot while the water boiled.
And it's also a good idea to prep your kitchen much better than I did. I had tomato stickiness all over my floor, under my toaster, and staining all my dish towels.
And be prepared to get tomato all up in your 'do. And all over you arms.
When all steps were completed, total time it took me to finish this game was 6 house. Was it worth it? Come on over and try some!
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