Yep. I do it every year when the harvest starts to get ahead of me! (Alas, this year everything is so late I am wondering if it'll ever even catch up...) Skins will come off easily, as you heard. Also, as they thaw, the water component will seep out first, so if you have them sitting in a bowl to thaw you'll end up at one point with what looks like partially frozen tomato "bodies" sitting in a little pool of clear (or almost clear) liquid. Eventually they'll thaw all the way and be sitting in something looking more like tomato juice, but if you want to, at that part-way stage, you can pour off some or all of the watery liquid, resulting in meatier tomato stuff and a thicker salsa. Enjoy! Z

Annie's Salsa using the roasted poblanos sounds good. I'd go for it and lable the jars accordingly. I made both of these recipes from small batch preserving this year. I don't see any reason why you couldn't double them or more. Fire Roasted Pickled Sweet Red Peppers (I think you could subsitute another kind) 6 - 8 small sweet red peppers (about 2 lb) 1 large clove garlic, unpeeled 1/2 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup white vinegar 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion 2 T granulated sugar 1/2 tbsp organo leaves, or 1 tbsp fresh 1 tsp pickling salt 1. Roast peppers and garlic on the bbq grill or on a rack under the broiler until skins are blistered and starting to blacken. Place peppers in a paper bag until cool enough to handle; set garlic aside. When peppers are cool, remove skins, cores and seeds. But lenghtwise into strips about 1 inch wide, set aside. 2. Combine wine, vinegars, onion, sugar, oregano and salt in a small stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Squeeze roasted garlic to remove the skin, mash and add to saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently for 5 minutes. 3. Remove hot jars from canner and pack peppers into jars within 3/4 inch of top rim, being careful to not pack too tightly. Pour boiling vinegar mixture including onion to within 1/2 inch of rim. Process 15 minutes for half-pint and pint jars. Makes 4 half-pint jars Fiery Yello Pepper Salsa The salsa has lots of heat. If you don't like your salsa this hot, use more sweet pepper in place of the hot ones. Just don't change the total amount of peppers. 2 cups chopped sweet yellow pepper 2 cups chopped peeled ripe tomatoes 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion 1/4 cup finely chopped hot yellow pepper 1/4 cup finely chopped jalapeno pepper 2 large cloves garlic 1/4 cup lime juice (bottled) 2 tbsp white vinegar 1/2 tsp pickling salt 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh cilantro 1. Combine everything except cilantro in a medium stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, for about 15 minutes or until mixture is thickened, stirring frequently. Stir in cilantro and cook for 2 minutes. 2. Remove hot jars from canner and ladle salsa into jars to within 1/2 half of rim. Process 20 minutes for half-pin and pint jars. She also has recipes for "Multi-colored ginger pickled peppers", "pickled jalapeno peppers", and "Green and Red Pepper Relish".

I am probably too late for this post, but I will throw my salsa in the mix: 2 mangos, diced 2 oranges, diced 1 green apple, diced 1 pint raspberries (or frozen) 2 nectarines, diced 2 jalapenos, or to taste (I use gloves to remove the seeds and membrane, which is where the "heat" is) 1/2 red onion, diced (you can use any onion really) cilantro, to taste pinch of salt 2 pinches sugar sometimes I add diced avocado and/or tomatoes to it You can put any fruits in it you like. People tear this salsa up, whenever I make it.

Anything that could be made ahead and frozen could also be (and in most cases would be better) made the night before and refrigerated, to be warmed up before serving. And even for those foods that don't suffer from being frozen, most will be better if you defrost them slowly rather than cooking them frozen. It's a lot easier to cook (or teach someone to cook) after dinner, when not hungry and under time pressure. Cooking skills take training and practice. It's hard for inexperienced cooks to connect between cooking techniques and results. Even if they were standing next to you while you cooked, it doesn't mean that they were paying attention. Even when an inexperienced cook can manage one or two things at a time doesn't mean that he can do several. My DH used to hate to cook because he thought he had to get several complicated dishes to the table at the same time. Once he realized that he should do no more than one dish that requires timing and learned how to assess which dishes can be kept warm, cooking became a lot easier for him. While I was waiting for the surgery (knee, so I was barely mobile before it and really needed help), I taught DH a bunch of techniques for fresh vegetables. I showed him how peeling and cutting up vegetables affects the outcome. By keeping cooking techniques simple -- either microwaving (with a sensor, so you just hit the fresh vegetable setting) or sauteing. That way he could see what it looked and smelled like when it was done, and that you don't need to grill to brown foods to enhance flavors. I showed him how to vary the seasonings. For example, for fresh broccoli, how just changing a small amount of oil from olive to sesame can make it taste different. The important thing, especially with men, is to focus on a result and then show them how to achieve it rather than give them a list of steps. While I was recuperating DH reached the point where he was experimenting with herbs! However, learning to cook creatively may lead the OP's DH to cook to his own taste. If all she wants is someone to follow orders, she is safer if he stays ignorant.