SALSA BABY!!

This is my mother in law's salsa recipe which is so good!  She used to can hers every summer and send a bunch up to us. However she had to sell her house 2 years ago and since then we've missed the salsa. She always grew the ingredients and didn't see the need to buy them now that her garden was gone. So I'm passing it on...just like her enchiladas and pico de gallo. It smelled up the kitchen and made me crave some serious mexican food.

And yet I paid dearly for this colorful mixture of veggies and spices. I made the STUPID mistake of cutting 1/2 pound of jalapenos without gloves! NEVER AGAIN! My hands burned so bad for hours I thought I was gonna go crazy.

Just so you know...no matter what google tells you Elmer's glue doesn't help it seems to trap the heat worse LOL! Ice made my hands burn worse, water only helped when it was colding and constantly running, milk was the best, but luckily my hands are finally burn free..a little tender and I learned a huge lesson: ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES...you aren't too tough to go without! Believe me!

Let's Hear it for Canning!

So my mom came to visit me and brought me boxes full of tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, and peaches. So today I learned the lost art of canning!

It was a lot of work, I mean A LOT! It took almost all day to get the 14 jars of pickles, 10 pints of salsa, and 4 quarts of spaghetti sauce all done, but it was totally worth it. My family will now have fresh veggies and sauces made 100% from scratch..not a single canned product in my sauce. Plus there is something to be said for spending the day in the kitchen where you feel a kinship with your elders. I have so much more respect from my grandparents and even my mom who canned when I was younger.

But now that I'm prepared with lots of jars, a wonderful recipe book, and the knowledge of how to do, I can see myself canning alot more things.

Friday we're going to do peaches. I didn't have the energy left to can another thing lol! But for tonight I'm stocked up and happy as can be.