Busy Weekend Again

There are always too many things on my weekend mental To Do list. This weekend was no exception as I had lofty, and perhaps unreasonable goals for accomplishing things. But, a girl can dream can't she. At the end of this dream....all tasks have been accomplished and my house is spotless by the way. It could happen right?? Maybe after I clean up the mess in my kitchen from making Antipasto last night until 4 am.

I've had this hankering to make some antipasto for the last few weeks and even tried to set up a date with a neighbour to do it. Partly because it makes a lot and partly because canning is always more fun with company there. Kind of like a misery loves company thing.... but with Baileys in your coffee added along to make it more entertaining. I was reminded of something last night...........There is a lot of chopping involved in making antipasto...........and another thing......who really needs 23 pints of antipasto anyway. I have this feeling I'll be giving a lot of it away. I tried a recipe from a friend that I know I like, (the recipe not the friend.....well actually the friend too) this time just for a change. I am not at liberty to share her recipe for antipasto with you, but I can share this one from my family with you today. There are a lot of really good cooks in my family, and this one comes from one the very best. If you have the time or inclination to try it, give it a go. It's really really good!

Aunties Pasto

Prepare Sauce,

4 cups vinegar

1 cup olive oil

3 cups ketchup

2 tbsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

Bring the above to a boil and add vegetables below in, one at a time. Total cooking time is about 45 minutes.

Vegetables

8 cups fresh green beans cut in 1/2 inch lengths

8 cups of diced carrot

1 large head of cauliflower, diced

2 cups small silver skin onions, peeled and halved

6 stalks celery, diced

4 red sweet peppers, diced

4 green sweet peppers, diced

4 cans mushrooms, stems and pieces(drained)

3 cans solid white tuna, water packed (drained)

3 jars black olives (pitted and sliced)

Keep in mind the size you would like the vegetables to be in your antipasto when chopping them up. Some people like them bigger, I prefer smaller. The vegetables are listed in order of cooking time required, so just add them in the order provided, and chop as you go. Pack into clean pint jars leaving 1/2inch head space and process for 25 minutes. You can also look into pressure canning since the recipe does contain tuna, if this concerns you, or you could leave out the tuna. In fact, if you go look at a canning site I'm certain they would advise pressure canning since the recipe contains meat.