On Thursday, my mother in law, Elaine, called and asked me if I would like to join her and one of my other sister-in-law's, Gaby, in attempting to can some Salsa on Friday. I thought it sounded great and I knew that Keldrie would love to spend the day with Gaby's kids.
Well, the start should have been an indication on how this would go. When I got to Elaine's house, she was cutting up the green and red peppers. One of the red peppers was molding inside and a few of the tomatoes weren't ripe enough. So off Elaine went to the grocery store while Gaby and I tried to figure out just when a pepper "blistered" in the oven. I pulled them out too early. And then after letting them cool and attempting to pull the skins off, we discovered we didn't blister them near long enough. Back in the oven they went. Gaby and I cut up the onions and then Gaby put them all through the food processor. The onions and the tomatoes luckily didn't give us any trouble. But the peppers took about 5 times longer than they should have and the jalapenos burned Elaine's fingers.
We eventually got everything mixed together and then cooking on the stove. Keldrie and I arrived at Elaine's house about 11 am. By 5:30 pm, we had cooked the salsa and just needed to get it in the cans and then boil the cans. It was a work out for sure. Especially for Gaby and Elaine. I spent quite a bit of the time resting and sitting down. Anyway, here are some pictures of the day.
Keldrie with her cousins, Josh and Julia.
An idea of the amount of dishes we dirtied. Thankfully, Elaine has one of those deep "farm house" sinks.
Thank goodness for these aprons. Gaby and I at our duties.
Candy corn, cinnamon bears and trail mix to keep us going.
Keldrie and Josh practiced their "trick or treating" skills. They would walk around the house, knock on the walls, and say "Trick or Treat!" They even put some candy corn in their pumpkins for effect. And for snacking.
The clean jars just waiting to be filled with yummy salsa.
Finally, the first batch goes into the pot to be boiled. Whew! Thanks though to Elaine and Gaby for helping and inviting me. We had a good time. Especially Keldrie, even though she got put in more than one time out. It was my first experience canning anything. I don't know yet when I might be up for a second round. Maybe next year!
Next year I may need to come up on that day. My mom and sister made salsa this year and gave me a few bottles. They are all but gone, Eric loved them so much and is now demanding I make some next year.
ReplyDeleteSo girls count me in next time!