Zabby, The whole cloves (Spice World) peeled garlic that I buy in 3 lb containers aren't packed in anything. The minced garlic (I don't buy anymore) is packed in olive oil. Garlic remains the only thing that I have been unable to ferment by itself. Really convinced me just how good its anti-bacterial qualities are. Salsa...... Subbing chopped parsley leaves for the cilanto really helped for me. Yesterday batch #1 4 cups tomatoes 4 cups peaches 1 1/2 cups sweet onion 1 1/2 cups green bell pepper 1 Biker Billy jalapeño 2 Bhut Jolokia peppers (very hot) 7 garlic cloves 2 tsp cumin seeds 2 tsp fresh ground black pepper 1/8 cup canning salt 1/8 cup parsley 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup lemon juice 15 oz can tomato sauce 12 oz can tomato paste BWB for 15 min = 6 pints Batch #2 8 cups tomatoes 4 cups peaches 2 1/4 cups green bell pepper 2 tbs manzano pepper powder (hot) 10 garlic cloves 3 1/4 cups sweet onions 1 tbs cumin seeds 1 tbs fresh ground black pepper 3/16 cup canning salt 3 tbs parsley 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1 cup lemon juice 15 oz can tomato sauce 12 oz can tomato paste BWB for 15 min = 7 pints and aprox 2 for the fridge to be frozen today. I forgot the tomatillos and will just chop them into the 2 or so pints that I'm going to freeze. Or I might pressure process them. The peach skin didn't seem to hurt a thing. The peaches were a bit hard, but I liked the flavor and they sure diced nicely in my new onion dicer. Tomatoes are the only thing that I have to dice by hand and they took forever as I am so stinking slow at things like that. Thanks again, Annie!! jt

isn't one 7-pod supposed to be enough for 7 batches of salsa? hehehe i don't know if I could tell you how many peppers I generally use. I think it took about a year before I finally calibrated my taste/eye coordination to keep everything i made from being super spicy (disclaimer: my wife might disagree on this point). i generally get myself in trouble when i go by count. I think it ultimately depends on what is in your 'salsa', and how you prep it: cooked quick vs. cooked slow vs. raw, garlic/onion to pepper ratio, etc.. For what its worth, these are my general guidelines for the cooking types: -raw: least amount of super spicy, but super finely chopped. my thinking is that if the peppers are eaten fresh, there is more of chance of people biting directly into them and non-pepper heads getting a blast of mouth numbing heat. (first time, it was my boss that it happened to, and he cried about it for a week) -quick cook: moderate amount, mainly because i don't think they release much of their oils cooking them quickly.. ends up being kindof close to the raw method for me. -long cook: lots of them, i feel like i lose a lot of heat when making curries and long slow cooked sauces.. not 100% sure if its because the oils release and break down while cooking (evaporating?), or because they soak into my cookware.. or if its the other stuff its cooking in: lots of garlic/onions and spices.. but i wouldn't say i use less garlic/onions in my raw mixes. i've been told that the different acids can affect the heat loss as well, but i haven't really experimented much on that side of things.. something tells me that a douglah is still going to hurt regardless of whether its been soaking in vinegar vs. lime juice. hope this helps -E

Sherry, I don't think cheddar would work, as I think you are right it would be too stringly. With all of the spices, such as the Pico de Gallo and salsa tabasco and seasoning, the blandness would probably be diminished. I really like this mixture of the crunch on top and the ability to limit or increase the spice both in the pico de gallo and the cheese mixture. I've considered using the same basic recipe but using a white Mexican cheese, which right now I can't think of the name of, but we have several choices here in SA. I'd be interested if you try another cheese your thoughts. I hope to be able to have this Sunday. Brenda

I'm sorry to disagree, but I don't think there's enough acid there for a water bath version of salsa. My recipe, which was tested as safe to water bath, has only 4 pounds of tomatoes and 2 pounds of peppers and calls for 1 cup of vinegar. Limes are more acidic than vinegar, but still, that's a lot of vegetables. The problem with salsa is that, unlike other products, it isn't heated before using. A 10 minute boiling period will "deactivate" the botulism spores that can kill you, so tomatoes in chili, or spaghetti sauce, etc., will probably get the 10 minute boil, just by the nature of them. Salsa is eaten straight from the jar, and so I'm extremely careful with it. Now, you could, in theory, pressure can the stuff. I'd go for 35 minutes for pints, that's what NCHFP requires for peppers. There's no way to assure the safety, of course, since you are canning an untested recipe, but that's as close as I could get to a guess. Leave out the tomato paste, etc. and I'd stick to pints, just to make sure I got good heat penetration all the way through. As for the "European method", that's just scary. Jams and jellies, OK, they aren't going to kill you. Even tomatoes are acidic enough and pickles have sufficient vinegar that it's not terrifying, even though it's "not recommended" by the USDA et. al. I do find I get a lot of bad seals and have quite a bit of spoilage with the open kettle, i.e. "European" method. I just don't want to waste all that good stuff, plus time and energy, so I give 'em a dunk in the boiling water, even Chase's pickles, although I used to do otherwise for Dad. Salsa, though, has those low acid vegetables and not all that much acid, I'd never consider it. You may do as you wish, of course. Good luck! Annie