Homemade Salsa!

We've had an abundance of Tomatoes (better boy, cherry, and beefsteak)So now is the perfect time for salsa! This was an all-day process, at a steady pace it took me a little under 3 hours :)

1. Bring pot of water to a rolling boil !

2. Here are all our Tomatoes; Out of these I picked out a total of 21 tomatoes to Blanch. They must be ripe & firm, or they'll end up mushy!

3. I dropped in 5 at a time, then after 30 seconds I removed them, then put in a new batch.

4. Place the hot tomatoes into a "cool bath" which is a bowl of ice water--this helps remove the skins.

5. Start Multitasking! Blanch, Cool, then Peel!

6. This is what the tomatoes should look like after peeling them--it took a while, about 30 minutes.

Chop...

Dice...

(I did large chunks for "chunky salsa". You can dice small, but prepare for it to be a smoother, restaurant style salsa :)

Drain!

(Make sure you measure approx. 8 cups of Diced Tomatoes.)

7. Chop 2.5 cups of Onion (about 2 Large yellow/sweet onions)

tip: To cut down on tears, try wearing sunglasses! Make sure they fit securely, and it will cut down on the "running outside blinking" episodes~! lol plus, you'll look quite fashionable in the kitchen! :)

8. Add Onion to the diced Tomatoes!

9. Chop 1 cup of Green Pepper (I used 3 small peppers) and 1 Jalapeno!

(Let's add some Green to the mixture!)

10. Mince 6 cloves of Garlic, then add it to the mixture !

11. Mix all ingredients together

12. Add 2 tsp of Cumin, 2 tsp Black Pepper, 2 TBsp Sugar and 1/4 tsp Salt

13. Mix 2 (6 oz.) cans of tomato paste with 1 cup water {a little bit at a time} Then add to Salsa!

14. Last but not least, add in 1/3 cup vinegar, and (optional) 1/3 cup ketchup

15. Enjoy!

It makes a HUGE batch, around 10 cups or maybe a little more. The cumin adds the "mexican" flavor, and that Jalapeno puts in a little zing! It isn't too spicy though! :) I put 3/4 of the Salsa into bags and into the freezer for later! Yum, I'll have to make this again!!