Common sense isn't telling people to an anything what want to. Its easy to know if something is acidic, maybe not without a pH meter, but taste can also tell you if its sour or highly acidic. Many people follow recipes recipes to the exact letter and 'assume' its safe or will have a good flavor and texture. They quickly realize that recipes are not exact science when it comes to the ingredients used. Preaching about home canning safety and using 'scare tactics' only make many people afraid to can anything even though there are many recipes out there that are safe and can even accept suntitutes for some of the ingredients. Maybe not everyone who does come canning for years knows that eggs, dairy, pasta, and oils are all considered unsafe, but for a recipe that is based on acidic based fruit like apples, its sure to be safe enough if the low acid components are added in dehyradted state, and soal up acid and all te rest of the liqids. Making a salsa with apples, apple cider vinegar, a few onions, and a few hot peppers will most definatly be something that can be made safe enough to home can. I'm not taking about a half cup of apples, and 6 cups of hot peppers and onions. Obviosuly thats way too much low acid. Adding cider vinegar like a cup to two cups, with 2-3 cups of apples, and a half cup of onions, an a quarter cup of hot peppers will suffice as bsic recipe. Were not making a hot pepper and onion salsa here, but an apple based one. The main reason most all my home canning has been safe for many years is not because I follow recipes, but know, by their nature what things can be added to increase acidity, and go structly by taste BEFORE its canned. Common sense tells us that we know there are toxins out there that need to be avoided, and improper home canning can encourage some safety issues. A good example of following a pickle recipe that calls for vinegar, salt and water and spices. I do NOT add water, so anything I pickle will be much safer when it comes to an actaul acid level, as far as I am concerned. Adding water to dilute things only adds more unsafe factors to an otherwise safe recipe or a procedure. Tinkering with other ingredients amounts also factors in, but for a salsa, I wouldn't even think of using a lot of hot peppers, as it can spoil many recipes if you can't eat a lot of hot stuff. I made a large batch of sugar free orange sauce, not for canning, added just a tablespoon of jarred garlic and chili paste and it was way too hot for me. I had to dilute the sauce with more orange and its grated peel to dilute the heat. I bet if I wanted to safely can it, I could. It was cooked, and the thickener used was Clear Jel. Because it was sugaress and used Splenda, I also added citric acid to increase the acidity. If I were to test its pH it would probably be down below 4. Obviously, home canning that would require more than 'common sense', and would require me to do a bit more research about what can go into it, to keep it safe. I don't tell people to can everything, and don't intend to hold hands to guide them through every facet and detail. If that were the case, I would tell them to forget about attempting to home can anyuthing as they simply lack common sense. ANY recipe, no matter how safe, can still be dangerous if the ingredients were incorrectly added in amounts that can change the overall results. You said that what we do in our kitchens is our own business, and you can rest assured that I don't have things like pickled eggs. I do make pickled pepperoncini peppers without any added heat only because I use full strength vinegar and a process that will force the all vinegar brine into each pepper's insides, by means of a strong vacuum. Common sense tells me the process I use is quite safe, and is the exact same way they are pickled commercially, but there, they use 20% vinegar and water it down to the 5%. No heat used in commercial pickled peppers either.

Oh yum. I'm having lindac's cranberry Jezebel sauce over cream cheese tomorrow, but this one is now on my list for next year! Thanks, tropicals9b. Happy Thanksgiving.

Regarding this Recipe... What kind of vinegar do I use? is Apple Cider fine? Thanks again! G'doc ANNIEÂS SALSA 8 cups tomatoes, peeled, chopped and drained 2 1/2 cups chopped onion 1 1/2 cups chopped green pepper 3  5 chopped jalapenos 6 cloves minced garlic 2 tsp cumin 2 tsp pepper 1/8 cup canning salt ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro 1/3 cup sugar 1 cup vinegar (for BWB or 1/3 cup vinegar for PC) 16 oz. tomato sauce 16 oz tomato paste Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Pour into hot jars, process at 10 lbs of pressure for 30 minutes for pints. Or BWB 15 minutes. Makes 6 pints Nancy

Here's the way I make it. Cranberry salsa 1 12 oz package cranberries chopped fine 1 8 oz can crushed pineapple with juice 1/3 cup cilantro…chopped 1 seeded jalapeno pepper and chopped fine ¼ c. onion chopped ¼ cup green pepper chopped 1 tsp salt 2/3 cup sugar ( or less)