These hot summer days with indexes over 105 degrees have really been a challenge for our tomatoes and cucumbers this year. In mid-July our garden is normally overflowing with more vegetables than we can handle. This year, not so much. Even so, we still managed to pick enough cucumbers to make some sweet pickle relish. Problem is, we are still super busy, so some of the cukes were a little yellow- a sign that they are overripe. You can still use those overripe cukes if you process them quickly and remove any large seeds. I read somewhere that they could taste bitter or tart. I’ve occasionally used them for at least three years and have had no problems. I do like to sample before I use the items just to make sure they are okay. Be mindful though. I am not talking about large, bloated cucumbers that are completely pale yellow all over. These are definitely past their prime and would probably be best used to harvest seeds for next year’s garden. We have several pickling and canning books, but after taking the Food Preservation Course with Clemson Extension, I felt compelled to purchase Andress and Harrison’s So Easy to Preserve published by The University of Georgia. It is packed with USDA-approved recipes that any home gardener or cook could easily master in the kitchen. My son and I make sweet pickle relish every summer. We love our recipe, but decided to switch it up a bit and try this one in the Georgia book. Sweet pickle relish is a great way to get those cukes off the counter. For the most part, the recipes are essentially the same. The slight differences are that this one requires apple cider vinegar as opposed to white vinegar. It also uses twice the amount of onion that we use. As expressed earlier, just because it is summer doesn’t mean we are not still crazy busy. We chopped all the vegetables the day before and placed them in the fridge overnight. Each vegetable was in its own separate air-tight container to keep them fresh. The next day, we started early. All the chopped ingredients were combined and mixed well. Pickling salt was added as indicated in the recipe. Then the vegetables were submerged in water, covered with plastic wrap and set in the refrigerator for 2 hours. During this time, we washed the jars, gathered lids, filled the pressure canner and heated the water. Once the water was hot, we turned the burner off and placed the jars in, being careful not to splash or burn ourselves. The cucumber on the left is slightly scorched by the sun. It is perfectly fine to use in fresh salads if it is not bitter. The one on the right is bloated and way past its prime. Core it and dry the seeds for next year's plants, compost it or feed it to your animals. About thirty minutes before it was time to remove the vegetables from the fridge, we started the brine. By the time you take your vegetables out and drain the excess liquid, the brine should be boiling. Add the vegetables to the brine and bring it back up to a simmer for 10 minutes. It is now time to jar it up. Spoon the relish into the clean, warm jars. Always wipe the rims with a damp paper towel or cloth before adding the lids and bands. Try not to screw them on excessively tight. Place the jars in your canner or water bath with at least 1 inch of water above the lids. Bring the water back to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove them and wait for the “pop”! This relish is good, but you will taste the onion quite a bit. We prefer a more subtle taste, so we will probably stick with our original recipe. I may share that one in a different post.
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AuthorI'm a wife, mother, daughter, educator, writer and hobby farmer. Welcome to my world of simply living. Archives
December 2023
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