Salsa made the easy way!

I always enjoy checking out canning supplies. At our local supermarket, Shaw's, I picked up something interesting: Fiesta Salsa Mix!
What's so neat about this is that it tells you exactly how to make it, either to preserve or eat right away and all you have to add, besides tomatoes and this mix of dehydrated veggies and spices, is a small amount of vinegar.
I was really surprised by how good the ending result was!
You can also make salsa with this mix simply using a can of petite diced tomatoes.
I added 1/2 tsp of my favorite hot sauce made with habanero and jalapeno peppers.
I did the "fresh preserve" method using 4 1/2 cups of chopped tomatoes and 4 8oz jars.
We don't usually go through a large jar of salsa in one sitting so it made sense to use smaller jars.
I simply followed the directions to chop up the tomatoes though I did peel them.
The salsa is a bit watery so next time I'll take the extra step to seed the tomatoes before dicing them. Tortilla "scoops" will be perfect. After filling the jars there was some juice left in the pan and I drank it up, yum! Thinking about it makes me want to pop open a jar now.
Be warned: when processing your jars in boiling water, tomatoes take a lot longer: 35 minutes! Good thing it's cool outside to air out the kitchen.

Pickled Hot Cherry Peppers

I love Peppadew peppers but they cost around $6 at the store. A repeat from last year, I grew my own hot cherry peppers (from directly sown seed) in the garden and canned them. This time I kept it simple, not adding any other "distracting" spices except for peppercorns. There are still plenty of green peppers out in the garden, I am hoping they turn red soon!

One thing I learned from this recipe is that you should put the peppers in the boiling liquid. This will help soften them so you can pack more into the jar. I probably could have fit 20 peppers!

Makes 1 pint (2 cup jar). I happened to use a wide-mouth jar.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound hot cherry peppers, washed well and dried (9)
• 14 whole black peppercorns
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 TB sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Cut the stem tops off the cherry peppers. Use a small spoon to scoop out the core/seeds. Leave some seeds if you want it really hot. Put peppers and peppercorns into 1 pint-size sterilized glass jar.
   
2. Bring vinegar, water, sugar, and salt to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until sugar dissolves. Pour hot pickling liquid over peppers, leaving 1/4-inch headspace at tops. Can in water bath for 15 minutes.