One More Great Way To Use Tomatoes

Two out of the four quarts the recipe makes.

Salsa man. Salsa!  Does anyone not love this stuff.  I remember when salsa first came into my world.  I realize that most kids now a days don't know anything but salsa, but that was not always the case. I was about 15 years old and I was attending EFY with a ton of friends when my first memory of salsa happened.  I was rooming with my best friend since kindergarten and we had some free time before heading out for all those wonderful EFY activities. (You know.  Boys and dances, and if you were lucky someone to give you a chaste little peck!  I loved EFY.)  We decided we needed a treat and headed across the road to a little convenience store that was on the other side of our Helaman Halls home.

Our treat of choice was a bottle of Pace Picante Sauce with a huge bag of chips.  We weren't smart enough to know to get the bottle of mild sauce.  We got the bottle of screaming hot sauce.  We sat in the room slurping the stuff down.  If we stopped for too long our tongues would be on fire, therefore we just didn't stop chomping down the chips and salsa until it was gone. Every last crumb and drip.  You know when something is so hot, but it tasted so good.  Our taste buds slowly recovered a few hours later and I'm sure we smelled so sweet and oniony for the first dance of the week, but 15 year olds don't care about those kind of things.  It was a delicious moment in time.  Chips and salsa quickly found their place in my life.  

This recipe for fresh salsa is from my friend Allison.  It makes a ton.  Actually about a gallon, but if you're sharing it goes quick.  I made it last weekend for the Labor Day activities, and when all was said and done there was nothing left.  I sent a bottle home with J's brother who seemed to enjoy it immensely and the rest was scarfed right down.  You won't have trouble finding takers for a lovely quart of this sauce!  If you do, call me.  My friend Erin is always willing to help me out with a quart or so:)

Allison's Fresh Salsa

12-14 large tomatoes or 5 lbs. of Roma's

6 yellow wax peppers

6 jalepenos

2 large chili peppers

(or a combinations of any peppers you have.  I used 4 jalepenos with the seeds last week and it was spicy.  Instead of chili peppers I usually use just regular green or red peppers.)

1 large red onion

1 bunch of cilantro

1/8 c. garlic salt or 5 cloves of garlic

1 c. vinegar or lime juice

1/2 c. vegetable oil

8 oz. can tomato sauce

I usually place all the peppers and onion in the Cuisinart and chop the heck out of them.  Then I add the cilantro and buzz a few more seconds.  I place that mixture in a bowl.  I usually hand chop half of the tomatoes, and buzz the second half.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and serve with chips or drink it out of a cup:)