I have been having a hard time with my careras as of late, so I apologise for the delay in posts....again! The Wednesday befor my father-in-law passed, the kids and I headed to the farm with buckets of zucchini and an armload of sweet spices to go can with my grandma. Most of you know my grandmother rents a home on my husband's farm, so we got to see the whole family, with the added bonus of extra hands in the kitchen to shred the zucchini.
We had a wonderful time. The kids and I got to spend that time with Papa too, three days before the accident, so this relish is not only delish, but holds extra special memories too!
Any one who gardens, knows you tend to get an abundance of squash. If your family is anything like mine, there is a number of people who do not care for squash. I love it...steamed, fried, grilled, in stews, soups, (I even sneek it into my spaghetti sauce and lasagna). It comes in in sroves, and I just can't eat it and share it fast enough. So the plan was to make relish before we headed off on our yearly camping trip.
Here's what we loaded the truck with to go spend the day canning at NanE's house.
12 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini
4 cups chopped onion
5 tablespoons canning salt
1 red bell pepper, chopped 1 green/yellow bell pepper, chopped
6 cups white sugar
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
I also like to bring a jar of pickling spices the steep in the reducing pot
(This makes about 4-6 16ounce jars, we doubled everything)
It's best to prepare all your zucchini and your onion the night before. So, here's how to do that(Place the zucchini and onion in a large, non-metallic bowl, and sprinkle the salt overtop. Use your hands to evenly mix the salt throughout the zucchini. Cover, and refrigerate overnight. The following day, drain the zucchini in a colander, and rinse well with cool water. Squeeze out excess water and set aside.)
Place the red and green bell pepper, sugar, vinegar, and cornstarch into a large pot. Add the nutmeg, turmeric, celery seed and pepper. Stir to combine, then add the drained zucchini. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, sterilize 7 one-pint jars and lids to hold relish. Pack relish into sterilized jars, making sure there are no spaces or air pockets. Fill jars all the way to top. Screw on lids.
Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with boiling water. Carefully lower jars into pot using a holder. Leave a 2 inch space between jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary, until tops of jars are covered by 2 inches of water. Bring water to a full boil, then cover and process for 30 minutes.
Remove jars from pot and place on cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press top of each lid with finger, ensuring that seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all).
Now, onto my amazing sweet zucchini relish canning day at my Grandma "NanE's farm house kitchen.
We had been unusually busy in early July. Some of the zucchini had grown too large and over ripe. We did peel these to keep the relish from being chewy. The younger, more tender ones met the greater with the skin on. It's such a pretty color, and with the red peppers, it has a great contrast.
We peeled the older zucchini, and seeded it too. The seeds can become massive in the more mature or over ripe squash, and that just will not do for a good relish.
we split up the zucchini into 4 batches. I'd prep half of the first batch while NanE preped half. Here's my first half of zucchini...
...and here is my grandmother's. At 84, she is the wisest, most competent, amazing woman alive. I was setting the little ones up to color, and have a snack, while NanE got started on her half. Look at her hands. The years haven't always been easy on her, but this incredible woman is a pillar. Constantly moving, sewing, quilting, crochetting to keep her fingers agile. I see strength, commitment, and nurturing in these fingers. My grandma is a treasure!
my bowl! I am not getting off to a good start. My two youngest kept asking for things, running around, needed to make a Potty stop...NanE was shredding at 10 times my pace!
Ha ha!! NanE's turn to be distracted!! Kaylee ran in for a hug! Maybe I could have greated like a mad woman to try to catch up, but decided I needed to snap a few more pictures instead.
Oh well, she beat me by a mile! Here is all of her greated zucchini, wrung out and in the pot waiting to be pickled, and spiced up. She's already onto her second batch.
Here's my bowl. What a sad amount of zucchini I've shredded! Looks like we are going to be here a while. Who says slow and steady wins the race? Well, slow might, but too many interruptions made steady possible. It was taking me so long, NanE was teasing me about my greater starting to rust!
Well, pausing the zucchini shredding, yet again, I chopped the other veggies, added the rest of the relish ingredients to NanE's pot, and set it to boil. Back to my bowl, time to shred some more.
in the photo above, you see NanE's relish after simmering, steeping and softening for 3o minutes. Below, is my batch of relish, FINALLY ready to hit the stove top. The kitchen was HOT. My fingers were wrinkled up from being wet for so long. My feet hurt, my back ached, and the whole while NanE stood with me, shreddng, chopping, chatting, laughing, and sweating. It was so wonderful. Canning with my grandma, cooking, baking, playing in her flower garden, or her coming over to play in my vegetable garden, all of it a blessing I will cherish forever.
And here we have it. Cooked, sealed, and ready for your hotdogs, hambugers, and tuna salads. Yes, there's one can with way too much head space. I know, we didn't seal that one. My grandma wanted that jar for herself, and made tuna salad that night for dinner. It really is sweet, with a vinegar kick. Very tasty, and no zucchini wasted.
Whatever it is your doing in your kitchen, playing with new recipes, making breakfast, preparing a Holiday dinner or scrubbing the dishes, look around you. You're in the heart of your home. The food you fix, might feed your belly, but if you can bring your family into the cookin', you will be feeding your soul!!
So grab an apron, kick off your shoes, and come on in! You are always welcome in this "Fried Okie's Suburban Kitchen."
