It's not so much "tidy" as I hate to lose all that other great info. ;) And P.S. Dave - to my defense, I didn't realize the vinegar issue until a couple of hours after my first post. I didn't see a way to add or edit a post, hence the second post. It isn't a question of editing a previous post. As medcave said all you had to do was just post the added the question to your other thread. That pops it right back up to the top of the list. There is a 30 min. time frame where the programing won't let you post again on a thread unless you change the subject line in that particular post - something like "oh, I also forgot to ask...". It is there to try to prevent duplicate postings. Dave

Well I made a batch (with just a few minor adjustments) here's what I did differently. I added more garlic (like double), more onions (by accident, I food processed 6 onions and it gave me 3 cups, so I used it all). I also squeezed one lime into it. Everything else was the same as the recipe states. My husband thought it was too sweet (possibly the cumin? of course the sugar too). He would like a more tangy salsa For future batches, I'd consider leaving out the sugar and cut the cumin in half or leave it out all together, tasted too much like chili. I liked it, but he's the salsa coneseur so it was not a grand slam unfortunately, but a very good overall content. I'm wondering how I might now adjust the balance of what I made to reduce the sugar taste. We only ate one bowl full so far. There is a lot left. Any ideas/comments/suggestions? thanks!

Sadly yes, I'm limited to water bath at this time. The plan was to buy a pressure canner and a dehydrator this summer but when my husband got laid off, those plans were canceled. In the past I've not had good luck making spaghetti sauce my kids would actually eat. The Chunky Basil one had such good reviews, I wanted to give it a shot. Since my freezers are full, I figured if I was going to practice, I wanted it to be a recipe I could can if it turned out well. I have a good sized garden (and since my parents own a greenhouse, they gave me the plants for free) as well as access to a local amish produce auction where stuff sells dirt cheap (a bushel of green bell peppers for chopping for $1.00, canning tomatoes for $4-6 a bushel, Onions for 20-25 cents a pound etc and my parents buy stuff there regularly and give me their extras in exchange for some of the stuff I can). I also have a good supply of lids I bought last year when stuff was clearanced out. Overall I'm not too worried if the Chunky Basil Sauce recipe doesn't taste as good as I hope. I can always use the extras up simply by dumping a jar in every time a make a batch of chili (my pot is 4 gallons so a quart can easily get lost in there), I just know I won't have $ to get regular wine anytime soon. And since I have virtually free supplies at hand to make it, I'm not out much besides my time if the cooking wine tastes funky. As long as I know the substitution is safe, I can use it up in one fashion or another. I just won't make more than 1 batch until we can test it out. Since we have spaghetti almost every Sunday since it's a supper quick meal to make after we get home for church, if I can find a suitable sauce, it will definitely help the wallet come this winter when I don't have access to so much produce. I got the salsa done today and if the kids behave well tomorrow I will be making the spaghetti sauce. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.

Annie did say it got hotter as it aged, so if you like it hot you may find it's better later. If not, you might want to eat it now! Doesn't last long around here anyway.