RIPE TOMATO RELISH

Steps:

• 1. I'll put peppers and onions in a blender about 1/2 full, then finish filling with water and put top on. Chop or grind until finely chopped. Drain in a colander. It'll take 3-4 times doing this until all onions and peppers are chopped. Put these ingredients in a large pot along with drained, chopped tomatoes. Add vinegar and about a cup of sugar (at first). Drop in cinnamon stick and pickling spices tied in clean white cloth. Add some more salt, sorry, I don't have an amount. At this point, it goes by taste. Bring all ingredients to a rolling boil, then drop heat down to a simmer. Taste it and you will probably have to add more sugar (maybe another 1/2 - 1 cup) and maybe a bit more salt. I usually cook about 45 minutes to an hour on a slow boil. If it doesn't cook down enough, sometimes I'll drain off some of the liquid into a colander and return relish to container. You'll want finished product kind of thick, not a lot of juice at all. When desired thickness is reached, remove cinnamon stick and spice cloth. While relish is cooking, wash and sterilize about 4-5 pint jars (or if you want to give for gifts, the smaller jelly jars). Ladel relish into hot jars and seal. Water bath about 5-10 minutes. No need to pressure these. **If I have it, sometimes I'll put about 1 cup of shredded cabbage into mixture before cooking. I'll save my husbands' older white handkerchiefs and cut them in 1/4 to tie pickling spices in, makes a perfect size, talk about frugal. NOTE: The easiest way to peel tomatoes for canning purposes is to wash them, cut an X on top (not stem side) and dunk in boiling hot water for a few seconds, remove from water and skin will peel off easily, make sure you remove core, too. (I'll save the juice I drained from the tomatoes to can later, just be sure to strain well to remove seeds.)