Chili Sauce

Sunday afternoon was not as lazy as this morning.  I made a double-batch of chili sauce.  So I can pretty much guarantee that tomorrow's breakfast is scrambled eggs.

I'm making some chili sauce for friends at work and of course, I'm doing a double batch so I'll have some for my pantry and to share with family.  But today friends, I'm going to share my Grandma's secret recipe for chili sauce with you...

Here's the shopping list for one batch which will make about 6 jars-------

4 cans of diced tomatoes
4 cups of diced green peppers (about 3)
2 cups of diced celery (about 6 or 7 stalks)
2 cups of diced onions (about 2)
I cup white vinegar
2 cups of brown sugar
1 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp pickling spice and some cheesecloth or clean white 100% cotton to make a spice bag

Put all 4 cans of tomatoes in a large Dutch oven and using a potato masher, press down to make a thicker consistency while still keeping it quite chunky.  Turn heat on high and add vinegar, sugar and salt.  Stir to combine and then add green pepper, celery and onion.

Stir and bring to a boil. Then simmer for 1 hour.

After it has simmered for an hour, add your spice bag.

Simmer for another hour with the spice bag and stir frequently.  After an hour check the taste and the consistency.  Once the taste is right, remove the spice bag.  Continue simmering if it is not thick enough.

Now you want to get your jars ready and if you've already done canning, then you can skip this next bit as it is pretty boring.

You need a pot that is big enough to cover the jars with boiling water. Bring the water to a boil and add the jars and boil for at least 10 minutes.

You also need a large metal ladle, metal tongs, a metal or plastic canning funnel and rings and lids. Sterilize all but the lids by boiling them for 10 minutes as well.

Take the jars out of the water bath with the tongs and using the funnel, ladle the chili sauce into each jar.  The lids should be boiled for about 3 minutes (any longer and the rubber edge softens too much to maintain a good seal). As you fill each jar, leaving about an 1/2 inch of head space, add the lid to the top of each jar using the tongs again.  Make sure that the chili sauce does not touch the top rims of  the bottles.  The funnel is excellent for making this easy and quick. Twist the ring onto each jar and when it has cooled a little, tighten the rings.  As they sit, you will hear them "pop".  This is  a good sign - they are sealing tightly which is the only way to keep them  fresh and edible for weeks or months to come.  You are done - Enjoy!