Canning Salsa!

Hello Amici,

Well, I'm off to the store to buy some of the things that I DID NOT grow in our garden. You know, produce such as celery, red pepper flakes (duh!), and more ingredients that are necessary for the home-made salsa that we make every summer.

I know some people think that I'm crazy to go through the work of 'canning' salsa or whatever vegetables or fruits that I want to 'put up' for a later time, when in reality, I can just simply go to my local market/grocery store and pick up some commercialized brand of the same produce . . . but the interesting thing is that when I'm going through all of this work, I can't help but think of the women long before modern refrigeration and freezing, who worked so hard in non-air-conditioned homes to lovingly preserve the fruits of their labor (and also that of their husbands and children) in the gardens to feed and nourish their families during the winter. Plus I believe that savoring and enjoying these delicious canned and/or frozen foods that I've grown myself, along with my husband, is such a wonderful experience, in addition to sharing them with other people that we love.

I don't have a recipe for my salsa, but simply cook it all up the good old-fashioned Italian way . . . . a little bit of this and a little bit of that . . . and taste, taste, taste!

For a general overview, I use a lot of tomatoes, Romas and other varieties, chopped onions, green peppers, celery, and lots of spices to your preference level.
Blanch the tomatoes in a very, very large pot of boiling water. When the skins crack, remove them to another large bowl or pot to cool. When the tomatoes are cool enough to handle with your hands, remove the skins and the hard stem area. With an immersion blender, blend the skinless tomatoes and put back in a very large, deep pot on the stove. Add the chopped vegetables and spices. Cook for 40 minutes on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally and making sure that the salsa does not burn on the bottom of the pot.

Wash the canning jars, lids and tops in the dishwasher. Boil a new large pot of clean, clean, clean water and put the washed jars, lids and tops in. Boil them for another 5 minutes to sanitize them. With a clean, clean, clean, sanitized pair of tongs, remove the jars and DO NOT TOUCH ANY PART OF THE LID AREA to avoid contamination by any germs. With another clean, clean, clean, sanitized ladle, pour the salsa to just a 'scant' bit from the top of the jars. With the tongs again, remove the top from the boiling water and place on top of the jar of salsa. With the tongs, remove the lids from the boiling water and place on top of the jar and lid. With a clean, clean, clean towel screw the lid on.

The canning process is complete when the top sucks 'down' on the top. With a clean towel, once again screw the lid on any tighter that it can get. Cool.

That's it! It's a LONG process, but not difficult. Enjoy the fruits of your labor at any time of the year with your salsa! Pin It

Pasta With Tomatoes, Basil & Three Cheeses (Tre Formaggi)

Hello Amici!

My husband, W.D., asked me to make this recipe for dinner tonight. I posted it last fall, but I have a lot of new followers so I'm re-posting it again WITH THE ADDITION OF TWO MORE CHEESES -- Asiago and Fontina, for a tastier bite!

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Plus, I just have to start using up this bumper crop of Sweet 100's cherry tomatoes and grape tomatoes. I've never seen anything like this garden bounty before. Now that we are having warmer days in the summer, it's time for us to spend less time in front of a hot stove and make pasta recipes that are a little less heavy.... and this recipe is perfect for that. This recipe is also ridiculously easy!

If you have lots of those sweet grape/cherry tomatoes still on the vine, and/or you have lots of fresh basil (you can also buy both), then here's a recipe that you're going to love!

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Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil & Three Cheeses (Tre Formaggi)
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What ingredients you need:

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1/4 cup olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, diced
1 pint grape/cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
10 large basil leaves, chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Regiano cheese

Freshly grated Asiago cheese (about 2 Tbsp.)

Freshly grated Fontina cheese (about 1 Tbsp.)
1 lb. thin spaghettini OR penne pasta
salt & pepper to taste
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What you need to do to prepare this:

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In a large frying/saute' pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute' the garlic until golden brown....do not burn.
Add the slice tomatoes and the red pepper flakes and cook for about 8 - 10 minutes.
In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until "al dente". Strain and transfer to the pan with the tomato mixture. Toss until completely coated.
Add the basil and the cheese to pasta/tomato mixture. Just cook for a few more minutes until the basil is wilted and the cheese is somewhat melted/soft.
Salt & pepper to taste.
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Serve with extra grated cheese on the side, some wonderfully baked garlic bread and a fresh salad on the side. And that's a great Italian summer meal!

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I use "Barilla" pasta from Italy. The North American producer is located

in my hometown of Ames, Iowa as well, so I just wanted to give a 'shout-out'

for Barilla pasta!!!
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Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes and Freezing Tomatoes!

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. A Bountiful "First" Harvest of Tomatoes of All Varieties!!!

We have been so blessed this spring and summer with weekly rain showers, so our gardens are just thriving....it's been hard on the roses unfortunately, so I'm researching the various ways to get rid of black spot, thrip, rust, and Japanese beetles (June bugs). Roses are a challenge in the South with all of our humidity [but that helps keep us so young looking right :-)].

So I just wanted to give you an update on my tomato bounty thus far. And this is just the second week of fully ripened tomatoes in our garden. The plants are literally drooping due to the excessive weight. The tomatoes are HUGE! Especially the "Beef Masters" and "Beef Steaks"!
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Now you're probably thinking, "gosh what is that woman going to do with all those tomatoes if this is just the beginning of the harvest"?

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Well, every year W.D. and I do several things with the tomatoes. Obviously the first thing that we do is make many lunches of BL & T (bacon, lettuce & tomato) sandwiches. So very simple and so very good! Then I use a lot of them (any size, any variety) in fresh pasta sauces, as well as fresh salads. Besides using them fresh, we either freeze tomatoes to add into our homemade Bolognese tomato sauce or we use them in our homemade salsa (we can the salsa). Every year, each member of our huge family asks for a few cans of our salsa, so I take those back to the Midwest during my annual family visits. My sister demands a can or two before I can even enter her house! My sister is a serious salsa fan!

Freezing Freshly Grown Tomatoes

In a VERY large, deep pot, fill with water about 2/3rds full. Have a second pot of ICE water near the sink!

Bring the water in the pot on the stove to a rolling boil.

Slowly and carefully place the tomatoes into the boiling water. You can use a large slotted ladle/spoon to put them in the water with.

Watch them carefully!As soon as the skin SPLITS on the tomato (about 1 minute!) . . . remove them immediately! You want the tomatoes to stop cooking!

With a slotted ladle/spoon or hand strainer, remove the tomatoes and place them in the ICE water pot.

Remove the tomatoes from the ice water when they are comfortable to handle and then peel off the skins.

Place the whole, skinless tomatoes in a freezer quality plastic bag (I use Ziploc Freezer bags). Freeze a variety of sized bag-fulls of tomatoes.

Place in the freezer.

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That's all that I do and it works every time!! Nothing difficult and we get to enjoy fresh tomatoes every month of the year. You can REALLY tell the difference in your recipes when you use FRESH (thawed) tomatoes! Plus, tasting a little bit of summer freshness in the middle of winter makes you really appreciate summer's bounty, the love and care that you put into the garden, and builds your anticipation for the next spring garden!

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