Easy Chili Sauce

This makes a nice small batch, and it's easy to make more! Particularly tasty served with a meat-and-potatoes dinner. And if you heat it up with hot peppers or more cayenne, it can pass as a salsa.

• Ready In: 1 hr 45 mins
• Yields: 7 cups

Ingredients

• 2 (28 ounce) cans Italian plum tomatoes, undrained
• 1  cup cider vinegar
• 2  medium apples, peeled,cored and diced
• 1  large onion, peeled and diced
• 1  cup  finely chopped celery
• 3⁄4 cup  packed brown sugar
• 2  teaspoons coarse salt
• 1  teaspoon ground allspice
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1⁄8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Use large tins (28-ounce) of plum tomatoes and do NOT drain.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large heavy pot.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until thick-- about 90 minutes.
4. Tomatoes will break apart as they cook, although you can help this along by pressing them against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.
5. Stir chili sauce often as it cooks.
6. Pour chili sauce into hot, sterilized jars and seal.
7. Process in a hot water bath if you wish, but I store these jars in the back of my fridge-- they don't take up too much room because they seem to be eaten quickly!
8. Recipe makes seven cups; I always do up 2 pint jars for my family then put the rest in 1-cup size jars to give away.