MotherKaren’s Weblog
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My Throbbing Hands
After reading about “canning sins” I discovered that salsa can be dangerous if any veggy besides tomato is increased in the recipe. One can always pressure can her salsa in order to safely preserve a family recipe. Before Aynie was born I grew and diced some potent jalepanoes for pepper jelly. I didn’t wear gloves when I diced the peppers. My hands throbbed for two days. I had to take OTC’s. WEAR GLOVES!
I didn’t like the pepper jelly either.
I retrieved this salsa recipe from the USU Extension Site:
http://extension.usu.edu/utah/files/uploads/Salsa%20-%20Generic%20Recipe.pdf
Boiling Water Canning
GENERIC SALSA
Brian Nummer, Ph.D., May 2008
Generic Salsa Recipe –per pint jar
(multiply quantities by desired yield)
¼ cup bottled lemon or lime juice*
½ cup tomatoes (peeled, deseeded**, and diced to approx ¼”)
½ cup any combination of onions, bell peppers (diced to approx. ¼”) and pureed hot peppers including seeds
(other vegetables not permitted)
¼-½ tsp salt*** (up to 1 tsp)
0-1 tsp dry spice (cumin, pepper, garlic powder, celery seeds, coriander)
*This recipe was designed to use ¼ cup bottled lemon or lime juice per 1 pint salsa. Do not use fresh squeezed
juice or vinegar or alter this acidification procedure. Doing so may not safely acidify the salsa resulting in a risk
of botulism.
**Drain and discard tomato juices for a thicker salsa
***Optional
Procedure: Peel tomatoes by placing them in boiling water for approximately 1 minute or until skins loosen.
Plunge in cold water, then peel skins and discard them. Peel onion skins. Wash peppers. Dice all vegetables to
approximately ¼ inch cubes.
Puree hot peppers including seeds (the heat of hot peppers is concentrated in seeds). Caution: Wear plastic or
rubber gloves and do not touch your face while handling or cutting hot peppers. If you do not wear gloves,
wash hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching your face or eyes.
Hot pack – combine vegetable ingredients in a saucepan. Add salt and up to 1 tsp (total) of dry spice as desired.
Heat salsa to boiling with constant stirring. Pour ¼ cup bottled lemon or lime juice into each clean pint canning
jar. Pour in hot salsa ingredients leaving ½ inch headspace. Attach 2 piece canning lid. Invert jar several times
to mix salsa and lemon/lime juice. Process using the following recommendations:
Recommended process time for Generic Salsa in a BOILING-WATER canner
Process Time at Altitudes of 0 –1,000 ft 1,001 –3,000 ft 3,0001 –6,000 ft Above 6,000 ft
Hot Pints 15 min 20 min 20 min 25 min
Sources:
Hillers, V.A. & Doughter, R. (1996, rev. 2000). Salsa recipes for canning. Washington State University Cooperative Extension.
USDA. (1994, rev 1999). USDA Complete guide to home canning. Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539. Retrieved from
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/usda/utah_can_guide_00.pdf
Nummer, B.A., Thacker,M., D’Sa, E.M., & Andress, E.L. (2004). Studies on safe acidification of salsa for home boiling water canning. University of Georgia.
Retrieved May 15, 2008 from http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/papers/2004/04ift-tomatosalsaPos
Here’s a link to local Farmer’s Markets. I didn’t realize Lindon had a market day–guess that’s a “little bit of country.”
http://extension.usu.edu/utah/files/uploads/Farmer’s%20Market%20Info.pdf
Canning Sins
Check out these sins of canning. I think they’re helpful and worth knowing considering the amount of time and effort (in the August heat) we invest in canning food.
http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/FN-250_7.pdf
Bump Lunch with MotherKaren to August 14th
Hey, push Lunch with MotherKaren to August 14th, Thursday. Same place & time. Remind me to talk about pressure canners. I’ll get a link up to a pamphlet at the right.
Remember to wear your sunscreen!!!
Jon’s Sweet Beans
The Daily Herald, July 1, 2008, printed an article including potluck food recipes. I’ve tried Jon’s Sweet Beans and liked them. They are very sweet and the recipe makes a lot. It includes ingredients you are likely to have in food storage. My kids are picky eaters and didn’t like them. Instead of using the canned beans a pressure cooked three different dried varieties that are down in my food storage. This is a cheaper method of preparation but not as easy as opening the cans.
Jon’s Sweet Beans
1 lb. browned hamburger
garlic salt to taste ( I used 4-5 cloves of fresh minced)
black peper to taste
2 T. dried onion or one small diced fresh onion
4 cans of pork & beans (or a lrg family size can)
1 4 oz. can green chiles, minced
3 -4 cans any variety beans (pinto, black, red, pink) drained
1 T. dehydrated red/green peppers or 1/3 C. diced fresh bell peppers
2/3 C. ketchup
1 T. dry mustard
1/2 C. white vinegar
1 C. brown sugar
Place hamburer, garlic salt, pepper and onion in pot and brown. Drain fat. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil and place pot in Thermos Nissan Cook and Carry or Shuttle Chef, close the lid, and forget about it for 4-6 hours. When you are ready to eat just take the pot of hot beans out of the Theremos and they are ready to serve. Makes about one gallon. This recipe can also be made in a slow cooker. –Recipe courtesy of Kylene and Jonathan Jones.
Backyard Chickens
Day Old Chicks Photo courtesy of McMurray Hatchery
Jocelyn, you have to look at this article about chickens. I have my opinions about the cost effectiveness of raising these critters in the suburbs or at least near the foothills (lots of predators like foxes, weasels and neighbor dogs). Corn chicken feed is not cheap. Chicken manure piles up quickly. Chicken drinking water freezes quickly in the winter. Chickens are day length sensitive and fail to lay. Electric light bulbs in the winter are costly as well. BUT, they’re soooo cute, especially those bantams, although they don’t lay very well.
By the way, my last surviving hen stopped laying years ago (when she was only 18 months old) and now crows like a rooster in the mornings. Most chickens don’t start laying until they are about 4 months old. Some never start laying because those cute chicks turn out to be roosters. FYI: Go for the sex-linked chicks. Color indicates sex.
Gorilla Poooos A.K.A. No Bake Cookies
Here you go, Mom. This is the recipe for Gorilla Poos that I learned to make in HomeEc at Butler Middle School. These are perfect for summer days when its too hot to turn on the oven but you still need a sugar/chocolate fix:
Bring to a boil (I use the microwave.):
2 C. sugar
1/2 C. butter (or shortening)
1/2 C. milk
3 T. cocoa
1/4 t. salt
Pour the above mixture over following ingredients which have been assembled in a mixing bowl:
3 C. quick-cooking oats
1 t. vanilla
1/2 C. nuts (optional)
1 C. coconut (optional)
1 C. semi-sweet choco chips (optional)
After combining the liquids with the solids use a small ice cream scoop to form the cookies and place on wax paper to solidify. I let the mixture cool in the bowl a little before scooping so the cookies don’t slump.
Large Gorilla Photo courtesy of Scott Wood
Do Lunch with MotherKaren
Come try Jeff Bruning’s fresh salsa recipe, bean dip (made without added fat) and fresh grilled tortillas. Calendar August 7th, Thursday, 12 Noon till 1 PM at my house. We will also have a water-bath canning refresher course (15 minutes MAX) in case you want to bottle all those tomatoes or salsa.
Dehydrated Meals for 72-Hour Kits?
The Mountain House brand freeze-dried meals the guys took on the Havasupai trip taste pretty good, but they are probably not a good idea for your three day kits. Each pouch is dinner for two and requires two cups of boiling water. It would be hard for children and older folk to carry the necessary amount of water for the meals and for drinking. This product may be an option for one or two meals. The dinners are very high in sodium (900 mg for one serving of Potatoes & Beef with Onions). A 2-serving pouch cost about $6.
Check Out Jeff’s Salsa Recipe
Those peppers and tomatoes are almost ready. My cilantro is over-ready. Here’s Jeff’s famous recipe:
Jeff’s Favorite Salsa4-6 10oz cans diced or stewed tomatoes
(stewed have slightly different taste, so experiment with it)
one yellow or white onion chopped (some even prefer red onion)
4 jalapeños diced (or more if you want it hotter)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (from a jar) or equivalent garlic paste
cilantro to taste (usually use about ½ to ¾ cup chopped)
salt and pepper to taste
lime juice to tasteThat’s everything. I usually add one (or so) cans of tomatoes, all of the onion, jalapeños, cilantro, garlic, and salt and pepper, then blend until smooth. Transfer to a mixing bowl. Then just pulse the rest of the tomatoes to the desired chunkiness for texture. Mix well in the bowl and add lime juice to taste. You may prefer to add salt and pepper at this stage for more control, and taste testing.
One note: you may need to add more cans of pulsed tomatoes when done, depending on how strong the jalapeños are that were used. These vary quite a bit from different sources, and it is difficult to know initially exactly how hot it will turn out. So I control the heat with more or less tomatoes as I am making it.
Jeff Bruning
Here’s a link to preserving tomatoes: http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/FN_Harvest_2005-04pr.pdf
