Homemade Salsa and a Winner

Check out this blog at Shelf Reliance. They're have a cool give away. I have heard wonderful things about them and want to try something out.

And the winner is.... (using Random.org)

Heather Reed

Heather is what some in the blogging community call a FIRL. Yes, she is my 'friend in real life' and I love her. I haven't seen her in many years but thanks to Al Gore we have the internet and blogging and facebook so we can keep up. She has a fun blog about her awesome family of nine. Check her out here: Running Tally: Boys 7 Girls 0

And now by popular demand THE RECIPE for JENNY'S SALSA originally given to me by a Mexican friend of CG and adapted, adjusted and tweaked by yours truly. Feel free make your own adjustments as you deem worthy. For instance Jen removes all the seeds from her peppers. The bulk of the 'heat' is in the seeds and therefore removing them will give you the pepper flavor without as much heat. But be forewarned it does not remove ALL the heat so TASTE as you go. Also, the salsa will be much milder once it has cooled after cooking.
I always double the recipe (or more) so it will last all winter. Here we go:

Jenny's Salsa16 cups tomatoes ~blanched and peeled
4 cups onions ~chopped medium
2 cups peppers (I probably use 4-6 cups) ~chopped. Save your fingers and time by lopping of the stem and tossing them into the food processer for a couple quick rounds- just chop them up don't make pepper mush. I mix it up with the variety always using serano, jalapeno, and tomatillo, sometimes yellow chili's (love the flavor) red chilis, green chilis and habanero or whatever I find at the market that day.
1 cup white vinegar
1/8 cup salt
1 clump garlic ~chopped, you can mince if you want but I like the pieces. or 1 Tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp cumin
3 small cans tomato paste.
Simmer til thick. 1-3 hours to desired consistency. As the salsa cooks down it will gradually moosh together and lose its chunkage. Sometimes I make one batch and cook it super thick then add another batch fresh and not cook much so that I have the thickness and the chunks.
Can, freeze or eat right now.

*When working with peppers, always wear gloves. The juices will burn your skin. The smaller the pepper, the hotter the heat.