salsa babies {canning "how to"}

"well, i'll say one thing. it sure takes a lot of plates to can." 

-sean

.....................

my new favorite hobby to do with sean:

CANNING.

he is an expert chopper.

9 years of working at subway & quiznos trained him well.

{and got us through college i might add.}

he cored those tomatoes like a professional.

a professional "sandwich artist" to be exact.

my eyes could not have stood the heat of the jalapeno.

call me weak if you may.

it's true.

the jalapeno was no force to reckon with sean.

it didn't phase him a bit.

true mexican blood he has.

and folks,

canning is just not as hard as i thought it would be.

it's a whole lot of fun.

and standing in the kitchen.

but you must have a buddy.

so if you don't enjoy standing in the kitchen,

and you don't have a buddy,

i don't recommend canning.

but i do love standing in my kitchen.

and i do love my buddy,

and it gave me a great sense of accomplishment to do it.

baby chase was a little gem and napped the entire time.

he woke up just as i was putting my salsa babies in their bath.

max poked her head around the corner asking me if i was all done more times than i could count.

it was darling.

she kept telling me she was being "nice."

b/c when she's not being "nice" i very matter of factly tell her it might be a good time for a nap.

she was much too interested in what i was doing in the kitchen today to take a nap.

and i was much to busy with boiling, sanitizing, and ladling to make her.

brennan watched spiderman movies on my phone and on our tv.

thank you apple tv.

you are great.

i believe it is just a fancy name apple gave a wireless router for your tv 

that transmits to your phone and other apple devices.

very exciting, nonetheless.

and it babysat brennan all afternoon.

just after i nursed chase and decided max had better take a nap,

my little bathing beauties had boiled their recommended times, 

plus 10 min. for high elevation,

and were ready to get out.

i set them on a towel,

and do you know what they did?

they started singing to me.

POP!

POP! POP!

POP!

POP! POP! POP! POP!

POP!

POP!

POP!

sweet music to my ears.

those little jars of salsa singing to me as they sealed.

it made me jump and shout horray:)

so ladies and gentlemen,

i give you,

a 

CANNING "HOW TO":

FOR SALSA CANNING RECIPE, 

CLICK HERE.

 1. buy canning/pickling salt, a big canning bath pot w/funnel, magnetic stick, and grabber tongs.

2. put your glasses on a tray in your oven, set to 300*.

3. put your rings in a water bath on the stove, 

turn down a "titch" if they start to boil, leave them there warming.

4. fill your water bath about half way, turn to medium heat, don't let boil.

 5. follow your canning recipe--we did salsa today.

{pickles, green beans, and raspberry jam next year i hope}

6. with salsa, you chop everything and put it into the pot to let boil for ten minutes.
we used our blender to minimize chopping time.

7. spoon it into the heated jars, 

leaving about a 1/2" space from the top of the jar unfilled.

8. wipe the rims so the jars will seal properly.

9. put the lids in with the rings for about a minute,
then dry off lids and rings from the water, 

and fasten them onto the jar "just tight," 

but not "too tight."

{yes you read that right.

these were the directions my neighbor gave me. i LOVE HER.}

10. put the jars into their water bath pot.

11. make sure the water covers them by 1" above their lids.

{just like hard boiled eggs.}

12. bring water to a boil.

13. once the water is boiling, cook them for the time your recipe says.

{i had to add 10 min. to my recipe time b/c of the altitude in utah.}

{click here for an elevation guide.}

14. once bathing time is completed, 

remove jars from bath with "grabber tongs" and let sit on a towel to cool.

{don't touch.}

15. you will hear the jars "singing" to you when they start popping.

{this is when you start cheering b/c you know they're sealing.}

16. leave them alone until they're cold.

17. store them, eat them, give them away.

HOORAY!!!

big thanks to:

sean

julie

tiffany

linsey

they taught me all i know!

HAPPY HAPPY CANNING:)

oh how i love to learn a new skill.