Last year Jake and I planted our first garden - Tomatoes and Peppers glor! Our little garden grew and grew and grew!  Yes, we were so excited but what to do with all of our fresh produce?  Last year I tried my hand at canning salsa and jam! Jake and I rushed out to buy a stock-pot, mason jars, and a Ball canning starter kit!  After a long day and a few many phone calls to my mom, the canning queen, I was successful! 

My success made me even more excited to grow another garden this year, much larger than last year.   And my goal was to try to master the art of home preserving again!  With  of this book and a few phone calls to my mom, I set out on my mission. 

Thanks to a co-worker and my garden, I started out with 130ish tomatoes.   I have come to really enjoy the process of canning and I hope that I will have one more batch of tomatoes to can before the summer is over!  Here is a step-by-step guide to canning!  

 Start by washing your canning jars with warm soapy water!  They can air dry as you move to the next step.

 Start by washing your tomatoes.  Then comes the long and grueling task of coring the tomatoes and cutting out any bad spots.  The utensil in the photo is an apple peeler/ corer.  I have found that this works great to core the tomatoes and the serrated edge can be used as a knife!

While you are coring the tomatoes, bring a large stock pot of water to a boil.  Fill a bowl or your sink with cold water and some ice.  Once the tomatoes are cored, drop them (20 or so at a time) into the boiling water for 1 minute.  Then transfer them into the cold water bath.  Now the fun part - Peel off the skin!  Once all tomatoes are peeled, cut them into quarters and squeeze to rid excess juice.

 Next, I pulled out one of my new favorite Pampered Chef tools!  A food chopper!

 I chopped jalapenos, green peppers, and red peppers.

Then in a large pot I combined the peppers, tomatoes, Mrs. Wages seasoning, vinegar, and  sugar.  Bring to a bowl and then simmer for 30 minutes.

 Pour the salsa into the jar.

 Insert a spatula into the jar to insure there are no air pockets.

 While you are pouring, put the lids in water and microwave for 7 minutes. Lids need to be hot when you place them on the jar.

 Place the lid on the jar using a magnetic wand and screw on the ring.

 Place jars in the stock pot and cover with water 1 inch above top. Bring to a rolling boil and then continue to boil for 20 minutes.   Then turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes without lid.

 Remove from pot and let cool! Seals should set within 24 hours.

Today, I canned 20 jars of salsa!  I canned mild salsa, hot jalapeno salsa, and peach- habenaro salsa.   Now time to enjoy!