Salsa, anyone?

I have decided I'm going to make a noble effort at being domestic. I first gave things a try as I made freezer jam last year. Since, I have become pretty good (if I do say so myself:o)) at making homemade-from scratch rolls. That's right, no store bought frozen stuff, though I think they can be quite delicious too. Anyhow, this year I tried to extend my capabilities as I made a brave attempt at canning salsa. We planted quite a few tomatoes in our garden this year, and even more peppers. Jake and I decided homemade canned salsa sounded like the best solution to making the best use of these fine vegetables. Little did we know. . . .

My first mistake was trying to can at home, by myself, with a very energetic 2-yr-old and a 3-yr-old (I guess that would meand I wasn't by myself). Things were going fairly well, despite my demanding kiddos. Emmy was down for a nap, and Carter was "helping" me dice veggies--until the onions got to him. He didn't like the stinging in the eyes thing so much.

I was beginning to feel proud of myself for my newfound accomplishment. The salsa had been simmering for an hour or so when I decided to make sure I had gotten all ingredients in (I know-a little late, but better late than never, right?). I looked a little more closely at my gallon of vinegar, remembering it had been up in the bathroom a couple weeks earlier for cleaning purposes. When I took the lid off and took a whiff, I realized it was not vinegar at all, but in fact bleach. My blessed, angelic, little, darling boy had decided to pour bleach into the vinegar container. Jake was aware of this transition and thought I had known as well. Obviously, I didn't. But, I do now. . . . about 8 quarts of ruined salsa later.

I called Jake to explain what had happened. He started to laugh, and I started to cry. No worries, I can laugh about it now. Lesson learned: I will now always smell my vinegar bottle before dumping it in to any recipe, just to double check.:o)