Salsa Time

Tomato season is winding down here in Illinois.  How can this be?  I feel like it just began.  Still, that Autumn chill is in the air and the days are shortening.  It's time to put up what needs putting up, tomato-wise.

I'm not even going to mention how angry I am about the one ripe tomato we've gotten from this heirloom plant.  Not like there weren't 9 zillion Sungolds for this animal (I suspect rat) to choose from.  But no, he/she had to go for the Holy Grail of tomatoes.  And then didn't even finish it.  How rude.

Today was for salsa.  The thing about salsa is that it requires a lot of chopping, which is best done with friends.  Anne, Anne's mom Mary, Kathleen and I gathered with our kids to salsify.  Suzy came, too, to help kid-wrangle.  Kim came later on to watch and offer helpful tips.

We chose the Jalepeno Salsa from the Ball Book, on recommendation from our resident canning expert Venessa.  It did not disappoint.

We multiplied the recipe by 9.  We needed many canners.

We made many pints.

They were very pretty, a fact very much enhanced by the awesomeness of Anne's kitchen.

The salsa is delicious but it is also very, very hot.  Probably too hot for me, but Sarah will like it.  We also think it'll be amazing added to other recipes.  I, personally, will be adding it to milder salsa, because I am a wuss like that.

Tonight, Sarah and I will be making tomato soup with the leftover tomato parts from the salsa tomatoes and whole tomatoes with the other 25 pound we got at the market yesterday.