TAKING LEMONS AND MAKING LEMONADE-Salsa style

WHAT A WEEK! My garden is really producing so I am trying to keep up with it. I have been drying zucchini like a mad women and trying to save up my black berries so I can make jam. Unfortunately my puppy also really likes blackberries so I don't think I will win that battle. BUT the real kicker are the enormous amounts of tomatoes that I am getting this year!

I decided to buy my plants this year from a neighbor who had a green house in his back yard. I have heard so many good things about him, I was really excited to get my produce plants from him. I got zucchini, bell peppers, cucumbers (or so I thought) and tomatoes. I wanted to get a couple of varieties of tomatoes so I asked for 4 plants of cherry tomatoes, 4 plants of better boy tomatoes, and 4 plants of moscavich (sp) tomatoes. The Moscavich tomatoes are supposed to be an early producing tomato and the better boy were supposed to come in later. Unfortunately I didn't get what I ordered from him. I don't know if he just got them confused while they were in his green house or if he got the seeds mixed up, I am not sure, but I got grape tomatoes instead of better boys. I was not very happy at first when I found out because I had big plans for canning tomatoes this year but I have decided to "Take my lemons and turn them into LEMONADE".

I collected all of my small tomatoes and decided that I would try to make salsa out of them. I did have some big ones since I still have 3 big tomato plants but most of the 5 quarts were small tomatoes. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started this project but maybe I can give you a glimpse into the tedious work involved in making salsa.

The first thing you have to do when canning tomatoes is you have to blanch them and peel off the skin. I don't know what you are picturing but right now I just see the nightmares that haunted me all night last night, PEELING 4 QUARTS OF CHERRY AND GRAPE TOMATOES!!!!! It was a tedious task for sure. I decided to blanch them all at once so I could just sit down and peel them. I put a movie in and sat there and peeled. It took me a whole hour! I am not even exaggerating.

After this tedious task was done (believe me, I was glad it was done), I went forward with chopping veggies. I started with green peppers which was super easy then jalapenos. I learned my lesson from last year and put on gloves. The next veggie to cut were the onions. I had such a hard time last year cutting onions, I was weeping the whole time. This year I found some protective glasses my husband had in the garage and put them on and it worked like a charm, I didn't cry once, woot! Then I did the celery, added all of the seasoning and let it simmer. I got my recipe from "The Ward Cookbook, Mom's Best Recipes". I used this recipe last year and I absolutely loved it so I think it is going to be my go to recipe from now on. In the recipe it said to let the salsa simmer for 1 hour but I got really side tracked...

I decided to take our new puppy for a walk during that hour. This alone is a huge feat not to mention I took my 2 year old with me. My husband was still working so I didn't have the option of making him come or watch the child. Let's just say that I ended up with the child on my shoulders and the puppy in my arms. It was a hot day so the puppy (who is a black lab) was very stubborn and hot and wouldn't move. It was quite an adventure. Needless to say, I didn't make it back in time to get the water bath going and the jars washed and sterilized before the hour was up. The mixture simmered for 2 hours instead. OH WELL.

I got it all done though and while the jars were in the water bath processing for 15 minutes I was able to mow the lawn (also a huge feat with the 2 year old and the puppy) but, I GOT IT ALL DONE! I was exhausted! The rest of the night I just laid on my bed and indulged in watching Friends and folding laundry.

I know what you are thinking...and I AM crazy. I can now feel good about spending time on my blog today. I hope I can get something done today, I am planning on making zucchini chocolate cake for the neighborhood party today. Wish me luck.