Homemade Salsa

I came up with this recipe last year, but I  never posted it. I took some pictures, but I'm feeling too lazy to add them so I will just do the recipe. This recipe is very easy and flexible. I vary the amount of onions and peppers every time I make it. The secret is roasting the tomatoes first. Today I roasted the peppers too. It is great! I did extra cilantro and only 2 large onions this time too. And a few hot peppers from our garden we grew this year called black Hungarian peppers.  I didn't have any limes so I just added an extra 1/4 c lime juice. The one thing you can't skimp on is the lime juice if you plan on bottling it. You have to make sure you have enough acid so that bacteria don't grow in the bottles on the shelves. You all know I like easy recipes so today I didn't even remove all the tomato skins - I didn't remove any of them the last time I made it and you can't tell the difference! Here's my recipe:

40 tomatoes 5-6 onions (2 and ½ pounds)
6 chili peppers 1 cup lime juice
4 limes 2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin 3 TBSP salt
½ TBSP pepper 1 bunch of cilantro
3-6 bell peppers – something I read said not to use green, that red or yellow taste better, but I’ve done both.

Cut the tomatoes in half and put on a baking sheet skin side up. Roast under the broiler in the oven until skins start to turn black. Remove the skins and puree or finely chop in a blender or food processor.  Roast the chili peppers until they start to blacken. Chop the onions and peppers, and add to the tomatoes.  Remove skins and seeds of chili peppers, puree and add. Finely chop cilantro add to tomatoes. Add all the spices and lime juice. Squeeze fresh limes into salsa too.This is best fresh, but it can be bottled too. Bring salsa to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. While cooking the salsa, heat sterilize the jars in 1 inch boiling water. Soften the lids in hot, but not boiling water. Hot Pack- Fill the hot jars with hot salsa to the bottom of the rim (about 1 inch from top). Clean the top of jar before placing the lid. Tighten a ring over the lid and then turn back ¼ turn (loosen them just a little). Put them in the hot water bath canner and make sure water covers the jars by 2 inches.  Bring to a rolling boil and allow to boil for 20-30 minutes. Remove from water bath and cool.