Alrighty. I have all the ingredients, including the 1/2 and 1 pint jars. Just need to know how many jars to prepare and I'm ready to go. I also bought a bunch of blackberries on sale for 99 cents 18 ounce trays. Strawberries 87cents for large trays. Corn 12 for a dollar. Mangos 4 for a dollar. Tomatillos 69cents a pound. I have a feeling I will have a busy week. I started some sourdough because we're also completely out of bread so tomorrow will be bread baking and putting things up. I'm thinking blackberry jam, jalapeno jelly, habanero gold, some sort of corn relish (love that stuff), strawberry rhubarb jam, something with mangos in it. Wow, I'm going to be one busy girl! I just love our produce market. Best prices for fresh produce anywhere. I even got some more fava beans while I was at it for dinner. I'm addicted to those now.

No way, not with all that butter (with a couple of tested exceptions no fats/oils allowed) and definitely not with the flour, thickeners aren't allowed either. What is the source of that recipe? There are only a couple of tomato soup recipes approved because of the fats and dairy products and thickeners so many recipes include. One is Katie C's Roasted Tomato and Garlic soup and the recipe for it is in many threads here. Otherwise it is canning tomato sauce and turning it into soup after opening the jar. There is also the one in Ellie Topp's Small Batch Preserving pg. 316. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: tomato soup discussions

I wish i'd get e-mail notices Check your junk email box for them. Your mail program sends them there unless you tell it otherwise. Would this recipe be in any better shape if the tomato paste was added after canning, during preparation? Sure, much better. You'd still need a minimum of 20-25 min. in the PC (based on the Stewed Tomatoes recipe in BBB). Is the ph not so much a concern because of the lemon juice added? In part but also the pressure canning makes a big difference. No way this is safe for BWB caning.. But pH is still a concern because the ratio of tomatoes to onions/peppers is so low. Tomatoes are at least borderline acidic, the onions and peppers are very low acid and there is no way to know if the lemon juice is enough to off-set their pH. Bottom line it is a personal recipe so using it or trying to modify it for safety is all guesswork. As for testing and sources of approved recipes - tons of discussions here about all that. There have always been accepted and tested sources for canning and personal recipes have never been one of those sources. Ball books and NCHFP are the foundation sources that all reputable canning recipes are based on - all tested repeatedly. We have lists of additional books here too. The only thing hand-me-down and personal recipes have going for them is that no one has died from them yet - that we know of. For some folks that is enough. For most of us it isn't nearly enough. :) Think of it this way. The purpose of canning foods is safely preserving the basic foods while in season. It is NOT having ready-to-eat meals. You sauce recipe can easily and quickly be made fresh by canning plain tomatoes and tomato paste and having frozen or dried onions, peppers, and garlic on hand. But trying to mix all those things together and then add oil and then seal it in a vacuum jar, an anaerobic environment, without first insuring the proper density, pH, and processing time is an accident just waiting to happen. But the choice is always yours to make. Dave

It's hard to save a partial pouch of liquid pectin - I'd try using powdered pectin (which you can start with maybe 1T and work up if needed). I got this recipe off an extension webite (forget which), it calls for 1 package (1.75 oz) but you can use less. APRICOT PEPPER JELLY Makes 6 half-pint (250-ml) jars. 1 1/4 cups dried apricot halves, finely slivered 300 ml 1 cup red or green bell pepper strips 250 ml (about 1 medium-size pepper) 1/3 cup chopped jalapeno or other hot pepper, stems and seeds removed 75 ml 2 cups cider vinegar (5%) 500 ml 4 cups sugar 1 L 1 package powdered fruit pectin 1/2 tsp butter or margarine 2 ml 5 drops red or green food coloring 5 drops (depending on the type of pepper used) 1. Cover dried apricots with boiling water. Leave for approximately 10 minutes. Drain. 2. Combine bell pepper strips, chopped hot peppers, drained apricots, and 1/2 cup (125 ml) vinegar in a food processor or blender. Process until partially ground with small chunks remaining. Pour into a saucepan. 3. Mix 1/4 cup (63 ml) sugar with pectin. Stir into fruit mixture. Add butter and food coloring. 4. Bring to a boil quickly, stirring constantly. Immediately stir in remaining sugar. 5. Bring to a full boil, stirring, and boil hard for 1 minute. Remove from heat. 6. Skim foam off the top. Then ladle jelly into hot half-pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) of headspace. 7. Wipe jar rims with a clean, damp cloth. Secure lids and ring bands, and process in a boiling water bath as prescribed in Table 8. Table 8. Recommended Processing Time for Apricot Pepper Jelly in a Water Bath Canner Processing Time at Altitudes of 0-1,000 ft 1,001-6,000 ft above 6,000 ft Jar Size half-pint or pint 15 min 20 min 25 min I like the jelly a little runny, so I don't use pectin in this one at all, the apricots are enough. You could also try adding a little homemade apple pectin/juice if you want to use liquid.