The Summer Season is over, Fall has officially arrived, but until we get a killing frost, the garden is still producing tomatoes. And what do we do with all those tomatoes? Make Salsa of course! Making salsa, it’s a family affair in our home.
{we are talking about working together in the kitchen, preparing some of our favorite things. You’ll find a great offer from an affiliate of mine is offering a great deal for cooking with kids.}
Salsa is the number one priority for our garden produce. Before I can use our tomatoes and peppers for anything else I have to see that we have our yearly supply on the basement shelves – 50 quarts!
That’s a whole lot of chopping! Everyone gets in on the fun. The activity has been the perfect thing to teach kitchen skills to the kids. I use a simple recipe (below). We peel the tomatoes using the same method I used for peaches. Everyone helps drop tomatoes in the hot water and gets the chance to do some slicing and chopping. With supervision, they can learn how to use a knife safely. For the younger guys, a table knife cuts through peeled tomatoes easily. And there is plenty of stirring opportunity available throughout the day. 
Garden Fresh Salsa
2 quarts tomatoes, finely chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
5 jalapeno peppers, chopped
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tsp salt
1/2 cup white vinegar
Combine all ingredients. Bring to boil, simmer til desired thickness is reached (at least 2 hours). Stir often to prevent scorching.
I quadruple (or more) this recipe and fill a 12 qt stock pot.
For hotter salsa, add more jalapenos. You can add additional onions, peppers, even a bit of cilantro, if you like. You can substitute lime juice for some of the vinegar for a variation on taste.
Store in frig in air tight container, or seal in canning jars using your favorite method. I have been pleased using the inversion method, but the waterbath method is highly recommended. You can see how I do this in my post on Making Peach Preserves.
Linking this post up to Kids in the Kitchen linky party and some of these wonderful places.
Yum! My family loves salsa, but I’ve never made it before…I always get the inexpensive-and-probably-inferior brand from the store.
Thanks for the recipe!
You are welcome, Lisa 🙂 I originally thought this would be too complicated and time consuming, but with this easy recipe and everyone pitching in, it is well-worth it. Hope your family enjoys it as much as ours.
I am the only one in my family who likes Salsa, so I only usually put up a few jars every year. I had been using some spice mix and you just add tomatoes, because I didn’t have a good scratch recipe to use. I am going to try this! I pinned it too. Has to be way healthier than that mix loaded with sodium and who knows what else in the packet I use. And if you guys go through 50 jars a year, it has to be a good recipe 🙂
BTW It is so lovely to see the pictures of your family in this post too!
This recipe makes a very manageable batch, Amanda. I hope you get the chance to give it a try.
So happy you get the chance to make up some salsa for yourself, even if others in your family don’t appreciate it 😉 Thank you for your sweet comment – you are always an encourager!
I’ve been roasting tomatoes for sauce lately as our garden is overflowing with tomatoes this year too. But we love salsa here so I think I’ll try this recipe for some of the rest of the crop. Pinning it for later. Thanks for posting it!
Thanks for pinning Marie 🙂 Your roasted tomatoes sound amazing! what a great sauce they must make. I hope you enjoy the salsa recipe. Thanks for stopping by and sharing!
I have made fresh salsa in the summer before but never canned it and boy do you can alot of it! The pictures capturing everyone at work ( and having fun ) in the kitchen are just wonderful! 🙂
The flavor and aroma of fresh salsa is one of my favorite things in summertime 🙂 we put it up for winter to make my husband and children happy, they say store-bought just doesn’t cut it 😉 It’s a little work, but a lot of fun when we do it together. Thank you for your sweet comment. Blessings to you!
Visiting from Thrive @ Home link up. This looks like a good salsa recipe- my husband loves salsa, and we’ve tried many recipes but have yet to find “the one.” Hopefully this is it! 🙂 Pinning.
I hope you are able to give it a try! We’ve tried ‘jazzing’ it up a few times, but my husband likes it simple and straight forward. thanks for pinning. Have a blessed day!
It looks like you were having a lovely time. Canning is a lot of work, many hands make it light. ~smile~
In reply to your comment on my blog, http://harvestlanecottage.blogspot.com/2013/10/cherish-yesterday-dream-tomorrow-live.html,
You’re right! Sixty-two is too young!
I think about a hundred and twenty sounds pretty good. What do you think?
May God bless you richly!
Laura
P.S. Did you know that you’re a “no reply” blogger? You can change that in your blog settings if you wish. What it means is that I cannot respond to the comment e-mails I get by hitting reply and it coming to you through your e-mail.
Hi Laura! I’m so glad you stopped in. I always enjoy your comments, and my visits to your blog. A hundred and twenty? Then I still have a few years left to be canning in the kitchen with my family!
(Thank you for sharing your reply here – I’m working on the no-reply issue – how can something so simple be so difficult?)
This looks delicious! I love salsa but have never attempted to make my own.
Thank you, Marjorie 🙂 I hope you try it one day, it is very easy. The recipe makes a smallish batch, perfect for taste-testing. Thank you for stopping in!
How fun is this? Looks like everyone is having a great time! Following you on Facebook and Google+. Do you have Pinterest?
Come share if you like. Linda
http://www.craftsalamode.com/2013/10/what-to-do-weekends-40.html
Thank you Linda! I love having the family working together in the kitchen. I’m popping over to your link party. Thanks for the invite, I’m glad you stopped in for a visit.
Yum and fun memories!
yes, indeed – and we are at it again this year!