Fresh Organic Heirloom Tomato Juice

Nothing yummier in your homemade chili than homegrown, vine-ripened, heirloom tomato juice!  I'd never made any before, but I had some extra tomatoes and figured I'd make up a batch.  It is extremely easy and I tell you what, I can't wait for that northern breeze to blow because I'll head straight for the kitchen and start a batch of homemade chili!  Actually.....I can wait for that northern breeze to blow because I don't have enough canned up yet and there are still blooms out on the vines.

Here's the recipe I used,

Canning Tomatoes The Easy Way

One of the easiest ways to preserve tomatoes is to core them and cut them into quarters, place on a cookie sheet and put in the freezer.  When they are frozen, put them into a gallon freezer bag and you're done.  I do this from time to time when I'm too busy to can and by freezing them, it preserves them for me to cook down into sauce later. 

Every year we can tomatoes and every year I don't look forward to peeling them for the canning process. This year I heard of a different idea that seemed too simple, but I tried it anyway.  Core your tomatoes, quarter them and put into a blender, no peeling required.  I was afraid there would be too much peeling in the sauce, but the blender pureed most of it.  Before you do a whole batch for yourself, just blend a few to see how you like the end result. 

Depending on how many tomatoes you have or how big your pot is, you will need to do this in batches for the blender.  Then just pour them into your pot.  Be sure to use a non-reactive pot, I use a large stainless steel stockpot for this purpose.  Then simmer the tomato sauce for several hours to cook it down.  Cooking it down removes a lot of the liquid and makes a nice thick sauce. 

You can jar up just the basic tomatoes or you can add all of your spices to it while it is in the pot.  I can up just the tomatoes and then use it in many different ways all winter long.  It is wonderful as a base for your spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, and for use in any recipe that takes tomato sauce or paste. 

Be sure to let me know how you like this process and have fun !!

Making Salsa...

The trick to good salsa is fresh heirloom vegetables, picked ripe straight from the vine.  One tomato is not the same as another.  We have tested many tomatoes this year and heirlooms are worth their weight in gold regarding their taste.  The fancy hybrids look just like the perfect tomatoes you find in the government regulated grocery stores, but do not be fooled, they are completely tasteless.  Heirlooms have the richest flavor and

Sweet Pepper Salsa

Anxious to pickle up the banana peppers, I began the process eagerly.  After an unwise choice of not wearing gloves when cutting up some hot peppers several years ago, I am very careful to slip them on even for jalapenos.  Did I consider wearing them for the banana peppers?  Yes I did, however, how hot can banana peppers be?  After slicing 3 quarts of them, my hands began to feel very warm.  I touched one of my fingers to my tongue (quick test to determine pepper heat, not exactly the smartest way)  and wow, I knew I was in trouble.  The rest of the evening was spent attempting to remove the heat from my fingertips and scolding myself for not using a little more common sense.  The pickled banana peppers are for my dear father in-law who especially likes them, but I don't think he would be able to eat these.  Instead, I pulled out a recipe that normally calls for jalapenos, modified it somewhat and came up with some pretty jars of Sweet Pepper Salsa.  Don't let the name fool you though because of the hot peppers that are mixed in.


Sweet Pepper Salsa

3/4 lb. of hot garden peppers - your choice (try Georgia Red Flame)

1 medium yellow onion

4 medium carrots


1 large red bell pepper (Red Belgian Pepper)

1 large yellow bell pepper (Golden Treasure Pepper)

1 large chocolate pepper (Sweet Chocolate Pepper)

7 small sweet red peppers (Sweet Red Stuffing Peppers)

3 1/2 c. sugar

2 c. apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. yellow mustard seed

1 Tbsp. dill seed

Julienne all of the veggies in uniform widths and lengths when possible.  Cook the sugar and vinegar over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.  Add all of the veggies and spices.  Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally for 35 minutes until veggies are cooked down.  Jar up, leaving 1/4" head space and give them a hot water bath for about 15 minutes.

This stuff is incredible!  It can be put on hamburgers, meatloaf, sandwiches, burritos, tortilla wraps.....and many other ways that I haven't even thought of I'm sure.  It's a great way to use up the extra peppers in your garden.  Another idea is to chop the veggies up in small pieces and then this recipe would be good drizzled on crackers with some whipped cream cheese!