The Pickle Factory

Do you have access to lots of cucumbers this summer? I mean the kind that come from a local vine and not the waxed foreign variety. If you do, it's worth making this recipe for sweet pickle relish. You can't buy this stuff, so I warn you that once you make it, you'll get hooked on the flavor and will have to make more next year. Oh, and if you give it away as gifts, then your friends will be hinting around for another jar in just a few days. So yummy! Here's the recipe:

My cucumbers worked overtime last week and, therefore, so did I. I made sweet pickle relish, dill chunks,
two different varieties of bread & butter pickles, hamburger dill chips, and dill spears.
I'm going to be making more relish and then, of course, my grandmother's "mixed pickle."

Sweet Pickle Relish

1 quart chopped cucumbers (if large, remove the seeds first)
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped sweet green bell pepper
1 cup chopped sweet red bell pepper
1/4 cup kosher salt
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 tablespoon mustard seed
2 cups cider vinegar

Combine cucumbers, onions, and peppers in a large bowl; sprinkle with salt and cover with ice. Let stand 2 hours. Drain; rinse and drain thoroughly. Combine sugar, spices and vinegar in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil. Add drained vegetables; simmer 10 minutes. pack hot relish into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air buttles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

~From the Ball Blue Book of Preserving


For more information on canning, click HERE.

With love from me to you...
GG