Canapalooza 2013 – Part III: Crushed Tomatoes (and Crunched Numbers)

Moving right along.
After the salsa, I made half-pint jars of crushed tomatoes in juice.
Why crushed? Because I using big, blousy late-season tomatoes rather than (except for one jar) compact, thick-walled romas. They don’t hold up very well when you scald them (or maybe I’m scalding them for too long – also possible) so I’m opting for “crushed” and just hacking up what I’ve got once it comes out of the scalding pot.
That’s also the reason I’m using tomato juice as a preserving liquid rather than, say, just plain boiling water. It looks better. (The bit where the flavour oomph is also upped a bit isn’t hurting but, yeah, it’s seriously for aesthetic reasons).
 

Canapalooza 2013 – Part II: Tomato Peach Salsa 2013 (Now With Actual Heat!)

So. As Canapalooza 2013 continues, I bring you this year’s recipe for Tomato Peach Salsa. I’ve upped the chili content considerable – from a couple of jalapeno peppers and pinch of cayenne to, well, more than that. There’s a whole, dried chili de arbol in each jar, plus the addition of dried chili flakes to the mix. Hopefully this year my salsa will actually have some heat to it. O.O
 
Anyway. Here’s the recipe:

Canapalooza 2013 – Part I

So. Yesterday I was given a gift.
More accurately, two weeks ago, I was offered the opportunity (which I accepted, and put into action yesterday) to harvest the tomato-heavy summer[1] vegetable garden of some friends-of-a-friend while they were out of town and unable to take in more[2] of their own bounty. I was also granted the use of a different friend’s car in order to transport said bounty back to my own kitchen[3].
 
Consequently today is CANAPALOOZA.