We had our first freeze last weekend; we even had a bit of snow! It melted quickly here on the valley floor, but enough stuck in the mountains that some ski runs will open this weekend. Before the temperatures dropped, I was determined to harvest every thing I could from my garden. I picked every ripe and near ripe tomato, as well as the peppers, cucumbers, onions, and squash. Then I pulled up some of the tomato plants, hung them upside down in the garage, where more tomatoes are 
ripening on the vine. As soon as we polish off one basket of tomatoes, another “crop” is ripe.
I have been working hard to find ways to use up the tomatoes. I made several batches of Broiled Cherry Tomatoes. I made a large batch of Vegetable Garden Minestrone Soup and attempted to make a double batch of salsa. Despite my efforts, I have not been able to stay ahead of the tomatoes and have had to toss at least ten into the compost bin. I also had to toss a couple of peppers and one cucumber. In the case of the peppers and cucumber, I think I lost track of which were old and which new. My kitchen was pretty chao
tic for a couple of days with baskets of veggies every where. I did not photograph all that was tossed, but I did manage to capture some tomatoes before they found a new home in the compost bin. The picture on the left just does not capture the ewww factor, but believe me, it’s there!
I was lamenting the fact that my salsa was too runny to my husband. He said, “that’s because you did not make salsa. You made picante sauce”. I like his philosophy; from now on if something doesn’t turn out, I will just rename it. My salsa was not as thick as I like it because I could not bring myself to squeeze the juice out of the tomatoes before I cooked them. I didn’t have time to do something with the tomato juice and could not bear to watch it go down the sink. And because I did not want to waste some juice, I could have ruined 8 pints of salsa. Fortunately, my family is quite content with the picante sauce, so I will share the recipe with you.
Recipe for Picante Sauce
16 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped (You know what to do if you prefer salsa!)
3 cups onion, chopped
4 cups of peppers, chopped (We take our salsa and picante mild so I used a combination of sweet gypsy peppers, banana peppers, and bell peppers, but you can add some jalapeño to increase the heat).
3/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 1/4 cup cider vinegar
3 teaspoons marjoram
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 – 7oz. cans of green chiles
juice of 4 limes
2 – 6 oz. cans tomato paste
Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into 8 hot, pints jars; leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Put one jar in the refrigerator for immediate consumption and the other 7 into the water-bath canner. Process 15 minutes (if you are at sea level. I am at 4500 feet, so I processed mine for 20 minutes.) in a boiling-water canner. Remove jars from water-bath and place on countertop to cool. Check cap for successful seal by pressing down on the center. If the lid center does not move up and down, when pressed, the lid has sealed.
Now, I need to get back to putting up tomatoes!
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Struggler says
I hadn't realized that you can keep gardening…
But the horses, Netflix and cocoa sound pretty awesome too!
Alea says
I asked my daughter what we did in the winter and she said, "shovel snow and drink cocoa". 🙂
I actually will garden all winter. Many letttuces, spinach, and parsley will survive snow without much help. We also ski, snow shoe, spend extra time with the horses keeping them warm and dry, get our money's worth from Netflix, reread all of our favorite books, and do crafts. My dh and I also tackle minor DIY projects around the house during the winter. And of course, shovel snow and drink cocoa!
Struggler says
Wow, you must be crazy busy making the most of everything before the weather means you run out of time.
Do you have winter hobbies that take the place of all your summer growing activities?
Alea says
Thanks for all of the suggestions! I spent one evening just dicing tomatoes and tossing them in the freezer. We had tomato bean soup yesterday and I am going to try my hand at V-8 juice today. For one brief moment I had cleared the kitchen of all tomatoes and then I went out to the garage and brought in another basket full. At least they are ripening at a more manageable pace now.
P.S. I am sharing with the neighbors. But for some reason there are still a lot of houses for sale in my area. 🙂
Rebecca says
I'm doing tomato plants next year!
Like Jane, I have tomato envy. Such a terrible green-eyed girl I am.
MakingYourWorld says
Hi love your blog, here's a Crockpot Tomato Bean Soup Recipe I came up with a few days ago that I'm liking:
Put in the slow cooker:
Some white beans, already cooked or steamed – some nice fresh tomatos chopped into 8 pieces per tomato, a teaspoon or 2 of bouillon – I used vegetable, just don't get it too too salty, about a Tablespoon of Dill Seeds. Juice of 1 or more lemons. Pour some boiling water over it in the crockpot and put it on low or high depending on how much time you have.
This was so good at work yesterday! It was easy to just put it all in the cooker and go about the day.
Amanda says
I am right there with you. I am going out today to harvest what I can and pull the plants. We had a light frost the past few days but I am hoping everything is still salvageable. I have been chopping the tomatoes and freezing them so in the winter when a recipe calls for canned diced tomatoes I can just pull a bag out of the freezer 🙂
The Thrifty Countrywoman says
I have tomato envy! We didn't get very many this year.
Jane
Shana says
Man, I wish you lived close, we could sure help you with those tomatoes!!
Vickie's Michigan Garden (my backyard) says
Alea,
So many tomatoes! I like your philosphy about your sauce–I think sometimes I should have called mine too picante sauce.
I blame it on the tomatoes don't you?
If the frost hits before the tomatoes get ripe I wrap my individually in newspaper then put in a basket of some sort. They ripen slowly -on a good year we have tomatoes till well after thanksgiving.
Hope this isn't too long
Vickie
mub says
We've canned our own version of "V8" to use up extra odds and ends from the garden in the past.
Rae says
That sauce looks delicious. Now you're not going to be happy with me, But I have turned this house upside down looking for the tomato ketchup recipe I made and I can't find it – how mad am I??
I will keep looking, but it looks very similar to yours. Except in place of chillies, limes, cilantro, marjoram I used things like mustard powder, paprika, cinamon and allspice…
Mrs Green from myzerowaste.com