I would much rather be preserving summer than preserving salsa but unfortunately that is not possible. It would be nice though… imagine if you had the ability to put “summer” in a few mason jars… seal them up nice and tight… bury them in the back of your pantry… and when those really sucky winter days hit- you know, the ones so frigid that when you walk outside you find your front steps are slick with ice, windshield wipers are frozen in place, driveway’s snowed in… but wait, you need to leave for work in 5 minutes!? Quick!! Spread the salt, shovel hard, come on defroster- defrost faster, there’s an inch thick of ice on the windshield! Now you feel a tear drop freeze to the side of your face, lips are chapped, nose is raw, and fingers and toes? pssh… they’re too numb to even know they exist. Now let’s drive on slushy, salty, dangerous roads only to get to work and realize your socks are wet and with all the commotion you forgot your coffee. Anyway… when those really sucky days hit imagine if you could pull out the mason jar, open the lid and BAM! It’s summer!! Now that would be nice.

Recipe

8 lbs tomatoes

2 mangos

1 softball size red onion

1 green bell pepper

2 jalapeno peppers

1 can corn

1 can black beans

1 large jar tomato puree

2 limes, zest and juice

1 clove garlic

1/2 c. chopped cilantro

S&P

Dice the tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, and mango. In a large skillet cook the tomatoes over med-high heat, uncovered. This allows them to reduce and their flavors to concentrate. Drain off any excess tomato juice then add the rest of the ingredients. Stir til well combined and let cook for a few more minutes. Fill clean mason jars with salsa. Screw on lids very tightly. Fill a large pot with enough water to cover mason jars by 1 inch. Bring water to a rapid boil, then submerge jars. Boil for 7 minutes then remove them and let cool. (I boiled 5 jars at a time because my pot wasn’t big enough) Makes 10 pint size jars.