Madison Garden Expo Next Weekend, and Recipe

Maggie and I are gearing up to go to the Madison Garden and Green Living Expo next weekend, February 13-15, 2026. It is held every year at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison. Information on the Expo can be found here.

The best part of the Expo (other than seeing green plants), is that a series of volunteer presentations are given. The slate of presenters and topics change each year, so there is always something new to learn. This year I am looking forward to learning about growing Honeyberries in Wisconsin and how to start seeds using soil blocks.

This will be my third year of volunteering to give a presentation. This year, it will be "From Seed to Spicy: Create your own Hot Pepper Sauce". It is a beginner-level discussion on how to grow pepper plants from seed and how to then take peppers and make a fermented hot sauce.

I will also touch on food preservation resources/books. One of those books is "Can It", from Better Homes & Gardens. This book covers water bath canning, and includes the following taco sauce recipe I plan to mention in the presentation. For those who are visiting our blog after the presentation, thanks for attending the Expo!

Fire Roasted Tomato-Ancho Taco Sauce

Makes 5 half pints

Ingredients

4 lb plum tomatoes

1 tsp cumin

8 oz. poblano peppers, seeded and chopped

1 cup chopped onion

1 jalapeno pepper (or more - to taste)

4-1/2 tsp minced garlic

4-1/2 tsp sugar

1 Tbsp kosher salt

6 dried ancho chili peppers, seeded and broken into 1-inch pieces

1-1/2 tsp lime juice

1/4 cup vinegar

1. Place tomatoes in a baking pan and broil /turn until skins are charred. transfer to a cutting board, remove/discard skins, coarsely chop and transfer to a stainless steel pot

2. Add the cumin, poblano peppers, onions, jalapeno peppers, garlic, sugar, and salt to the tomato mixture and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

3. Transfer to a food processor or blender in batches, and blend until smooth. Stain through a fine mesh strainer into pot.

4. Simmer sauce, uncovered until slightly thickened and reduced to about 4 cups, about 10 minutes.

5. Stir in lime juice and vinegar.

6. Ladle hot sauce into half pint canning jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe rims and add 2-piece canning lids

7. Process in water canner or atmospheric steam canner for 35 minutes