This is DeAnna’s Mom’s recipe for hot sauce, as she call it.  Some call it a salsa.

Ingredients

16 oz jars of chili peppers (Gedney or Vlasic), reserve the juice
16 oz jars of cherry peppers (Gedney or Vlasic), Sweet or Hot
1 large yellow onion, chopped into blendable-sized pieces, add additional onion to your own tastes
28 oz can of whole, peeled tomatoes, cut them up for blending.  Must be a cheap or in-store brand to be the right acid content.

Process

In a vertical jar blender blend the peppers including seeds and stems.  Remove and put in large stainless-steel bowl.  Blend tomatoes, add onion, continue blending.  Use the pepper juice if needed to aid in the blending process.  (Don’t let any of this splash into your eyes!).  Add all ingredients to stainless steel bowl.  Mix with wooden spoon.  Use pepper jar to store the sauce.

Notes:
It is critical that “cheap” off-brand tomatoes are used to build this sauce. “Name” brands, such as Hunts or Delmonte seem to have the wrong acidity and the recipe just doesn’t taste right. Fresh tomatoes are incompatible for the same reason.

This mixture will keep for several months if refrigerated. Hy-Vee in Watertown usually stocks all the ingredients.

Some people cut the heat with sour cream but the results look a bit messy.  In case of undesired over-consumption, drink hot liquids, such as coffee or tea, to remove spicy oils from tongue and mouth. Cold liquids, such as beer or pop, are NOT recommended since they cause the pepper oils to congeal and stick to the tongue. This salsa has also been known to cause an “afterburn”. If you’re not sure what this means, just eat a jarful and await the results.