Peach Salsa

The tomatoes are ripe, and that means it's time for

  Homemade Salsa!

This is a great recipe I got from Rachel Clegg. (Miss you Rachel!) We add fresh peaches to it for a splash of flavor, but that's completely optional. If you can grow a lot of the ingredients in your own garden, that will save you some $. (Or you can borrow some of the stuff from other people's garden's, as we did since our peppers didn't grow very well this year.) It's nice to have some tasty salsa during the winter to warm you up!

8-10 quarts fresh tomatoes

4-6 med. onions (diced)

8 green bell peppers (diced)

12-20 Anahiem peppers (diced)

1-10 Jalapeno peppers (diced) for mild to medium

2-10 Habinero peppers- (diced) for HOT salsa

2 cups white vinegar

1 T. - 1/4 c. sugar to taste

3-5 T. salt

2 tsp. crushed red pepper (add more for hotter salsa)

4 T. cumin

8 Tbs. fresh, chopped cilantro

1-2 heads of garlic, peeled and minced

As you can see, there is a LOT of chopping involved. Use a food processor if you have one. If you don't , you might want to borrow one!

Now we add about 4-6 cups chopped peaches, for a nice salty-sweet flavor.

Bring to a boil in a very large pot. Simmer 20 - 45 min, or until some of the water has evaporated off and it is a consistency you like, stirring occasionally.

At this point Mark splits the batch in two, to make a really hot version for him with the habinero peppers, and a mild version for the rest of us. 

Process for 20 min. in pint jars.

With the peaches, this made a lot of salsa, like 18 pints. The first one didn't last long, though! Mmmmmm chips n' salsa!