My mom is making a batch today and i almost have enough maters to make another this weekend! My dad was a skeptic because he knows i can't do spicy and my hub is a mild guy so he made fun saying it was going to be for babies. i proved him wrong it does have a kick and he ate the whole jar!! My mom will probably spice it up for him and add more hot peppers.

I agree with Dave. If there is any doubt about whether you added the vinegar, into the fridge it goes, it cannot be canned safely without it. I pressure canned the first batches, but my ultimate goal was to make a salsa that was safe to waterbath can. So, although I am/was confident in using the pressure canned version, it was not tested and declared safe like the water bath version was, and even that had some vinegar in it. Better safe than sorry, I'd definitely refrigerate the stuff and use it up, or freeze it. I know someone did that, but I'll be darned if I remember who. And you certainly can use the food processor to chop up the vegetables. I do mine by hand because I can't seem to get nice sized pieces. Either it's puree or the pieces are too big, and my knife skills are pretty good, so I just chop 'em. Manic, I'm glad you like it! Annie

Thank you Linda Lou, I knew minced was small, diced was cubes but didn't know size (I think I've seen "1/4" dice" but wouldn't know if that was on the large or the small side), and "roughly chopped" would be really big, but I don't know what "chopped" meant. I will cut onions and peppers to app. 1/4", Annie said she quarters tomatoes to make it chunkier so still want to know her consistency. Lisa, yes I do know 16 oz = 1 C fluid. I just assumed that paste should not exceed sauce, and it's easier to pour 4 oz out of a sauce can (to get 12 oz of sauce to equal the paste) than to spoon paste out (unless I measure it in Tbsp, then thoroughly scrape the spoon out). I'm not even sure how much I scraped out of the 12 oz can. But that brings up something I never thought of - the 12oz can is sold by weight, not volume, and I assume the recipe is referring to volume? So who knows how much I *really* got out of the 12 oz weight can? Of course, I could measure it next time, but if 12 (or 16) oz volume comes out to weigh more b/c paste is so dense, then I assume that wouldn't be safe either, the salsa would be too thick. Now I'm *really* confused. I did find on the Canadian Fight Bac website "cooked type (salsa) and not processed, it can be refrigerated for one month." - now, I did process these, opened 2 jars (1 hot, 1 medium) yesterday to taste and will use today at a BBQ. If I open the others and stir to oxygenate, will they last 2 weeks to a month? Or should I freeze them? http://www.canfightbac.org/cpcfse/en/cookwell/ask/where_how/#1684

Image by: Barnmom 8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained 2-1/2 cups onion, chopped 1-1/2 cups green pepper, chopped 3 - 5 jalapenos, chopped 6 cloves garlic 2 teaspoons cumin 2 teaspoons ground black pepper 1/8 cup canning salt 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped 1/3 cup sugar 1 cup 5% apple cider vinegar 2 cups (16 oz.) tomato sauce 2 cups (16 oz.) tomato paste Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Pour into hot pint jars leaving 1/2" headspace, seal and process in a boiling water canning bath for 15 minutes. Adjust for your altitude (see below). Makes about 6-7 pints. Additional Notes for Ingredients and Processing 8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained Any type or color of tomato may be used (paste, canning, beefsteak, a combination of different types, etc.) The paste types will be meatier, the canners such as Rutgers are somewhat juicier than paste types and the beefsteaks the juiciest of all. Some prefer, as Annie does, to remove the tomato seeds and gel sacks. Some don't remove the seeds - this is personal preference. Measure after peeling, chopping and draining. 2-1/2 cups onion, chopped Roughly a 1/4" chopped size (this is the size used in the NCHFP testing - a little larger won't matter, but try not to have the pieces larger than 1/2" maximum). 1-1/2 cups green pepper, chopped Roughly a 1/4" chopped size. 3 - 5 jalapenos, chopped Any combination of green, red, whatever color peppers is fine. 3-5 jalapenos equates to roughly 1/4 cup, so total peppers cannot exceed 1-3/4 cups. For a spicier salsa, you can decrease the sweet peppers and increase the hot peppers by the same amount. Or, you can use hotter peppers (such as habaneros or serranos) but the TOTAL amount of peppers cannot exceed 1-3/4 cups. 6 cloves garlic, minced or finely diced Do not increase. Small differences in size of cloves should not matter. 2 teaspoons cumin For taste only. Can be reduced or left out entirely. 2 teaspoons ground black pepper For taste only. Can be reduced or left out entirely. Any dried ground pepper such as cayenne may be substituted for a portion of or all of the black pepper. 2 tablespoons (same measurement as 1/8 cup) canning salt For taste only. Can be reduced or left out entirely. 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped Can be reduced or left out entirely. Do not increase. Dried cilantro or other dried herbs may be added, but not more fresh herbs (fresh herbs change the pH - dried herbs do not). Add additional fresh herbs only after you open the jar. 1/3 cup sugar For taste only. Can be reduced or left out entirely. 1 cup 5% apple cider vinegar Can use any flavor vinegar (white, cider, etc.) as long as acidity is at least 5%. However, you can substitute bottled lemon or lime juice in any proportions according to taste (for example, 1/3 cup vinegar, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/3 cup lime juice) as long as the total equals one cup. 2 cups (16 oz.) tomato sauce Can be reduced slightly. See "Canning & Processing" notes below. 2 cups (16 oz.) tomato paste For texture only. Can be reduced or left out entirely. JAR SIZES You may: Process in pint jars (either regular or wide mouth) or smaller (12 oz., 8 oz. half pints, or 4 oz. quarter pints). Process all smaller sizes at the same processing time for pints. You may NOT: Process in larger jars (24 oz., 32 oz. quarts or 1/2 gallon jars). Testing was done only in pint jars. CANNING & PROCESSING The recipe for pressure canning originally specified 1/3 cup vinegar and copies of that recipe are still available on the Internet. Pressure canning salsa has not been tested, therefore it is not officially recommended. If you wish to pressure can the salsa, you must include a full 1 cup of vinegar. Processing time that is currently used by some is 10 lbs. pressure for 30 minutes. Adjust for your altitude (see below). Because salsa is eaten out of the jar without heating and includes low acid vegetables such as garlic, onions and peppers, it is one of the riskier products to can at home due to two factors: the pH or acidity level (the normal cutoff point for boiling water bath vs. pressure canning is a pH of 4.6 and salsa can edge very close to that) and the density of the product. The salsa should be thin enough for the liquid portion to thoroughly suspend the chopped vegetables so the very center of the jar heats up to the same temperature as the outer portion next to the glass during processing. If you want it thicker, puree it AFTER you open the jar. DO NOT puree before processing - this would affect the density. Or, add a thickener such as Clear Jel or cornstarch AFTER you open the jar. DO NOT add other low acid vegetables before processing, such as corn or black beans. Only add them after you open the jar. ADJUSTMENTS If you live above 1000' in elevation, you need to calculate your altitude adjustments for both boiling water bath (BWB) and pressure canning (PC). As your altitude goes above 1000 feet the atmospheric pressure is reduced. This causes water to boil at temperatures lower than 212 degrees Fahrenheit. For safety in water bath canning, you must bring the contents of your jar to at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit. To compensate for the lower boiling temperature at altitude, you must increase processing time. For this salsa recipe, BWB times at altitudes of (per the Ball Blue Book): Up to 1000 ft. Processing time is 15 minutes. 1001 - 3000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 5 minutes to 20 minutes total. 3001 - 6000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 10 minutes to 25 minutes total. 6001 - 8000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 15 minutes to 30 minutes total. 8001 - 10,000 ft. Increase processing time an extra 20 minutes to 35 minutes total. Adjustments for pressure canning can be found in the Ball Blue Book or on their website. Do make sure you know the altitude where you do your canning. People that live in Denver know they are in the Mile High City and have to make adjustments, but portions of cities like Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Oklahoma City are all above 1000' and it may be something you're not aware of and need to be compensating for. DO I HAVE TO USE BOTTLED LEMON JUICE? The pH scale runs from 0 (very acidic) to 14 (very alkaline). Each increment from 0 to 14 is 10 times more acidic/alkaline (remember the "magic" number of pH 4.6 for BWB vs. pressure canning). pH testing on fresh lemons ranged from 2.20 to 3.20, so one variety of lemon or even an individual lemon grown in a different orchard might be 10 times LESS acidic than another. Bottled lemon juice, which is processed to a standard acidity, is used for testing in recipes and is also pasteurized, therefore it also will not create any further enzyme reactions in your canned goods (per the folks at ReaLemon a couple of years ago). Note: Bottled lemon or lime juices are only called for when canning borderline pH foods (tomatoes and salsa usually). If you are making jams and jellies with high acid fruits (any fruit excluding Asian pears, bananas, mangoes, figs and melons), feel free to use fresh lemon or lime juice. Do I personally like using bottled lemon juice? Not particularly, but when a canning procedure SPECIFICALLY CALLS FOR IT, I use it without questioning it. A very good explanation is in this publication from North Dakota State University - "Why add lemon juice to tomatoes and salsa before canning?" Especially note the different pH values of individual varieties of tomatoes (and there are thousands more varieties). For the more science oriented, this 2004 paper from the NCHFP: On safe acidification of salsa for home boiling water canning