#618 - Chili Sauce

(by Grandma Pauline [Tharp] Herman)

1 peck ripe tomatoes
6 green peppers
6 medium onions
2 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups Domino's dark brown sugar
1 pint cider vinegar
salt to taste
1 bunch celery

Wash tomatoes and place them in a large pot--cover them with boiling water. After 5 minutes, drain water off of tomatoes. Rinse each tomato with cold water so you can hold them comfortably. Use a knife to remove tomato skins and core the centers (like you would core an apple), then slice into quarters. Rinse the pot you were using and place quartered tomatoes back in the pot. Wash green peppers, slice them, remove the seeds, and chop into small pieces--put them in with the tomatoes. Wash and clean onions--chop into small pieces and add to the tomatoes. Wash and clean celery, chop into small pieces and put in with tomatoes. Add cloves, cinnamon, brown sugar, vinegar, and about 3 TBSP salt (more or less to your taste) to the tomatoes. Stir and turn heat to medium--keep stirring occasionally until boiling. Once boiling, turn heat back to halfway between medium and low heat. Let chili sauce cook for 3 hours, stirring every 15 minutes so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. After 3 hours while chili sauce is still hot, place chili in canning jars (if you don't know how to can using jars and lids, see our 14 day pickle recipe #605).