Canning Season!

July is here, and garden harvesting has commenced! Between now and September, home gardeners and canners will be busy little bees putting up the harvest against the coming cold weather. Oh how wonderful it is, in the cold and gloomy days of winter, to open a little ray of summer sunshine, carefully preserved in a Mason jar!

This is an old recipe, handed down for generations, for Chow Chow. It is a mixed vegetable relish that goes well on hot dogs, with meats, or by itself. I believe that it recently has been published in the Ball Blue Book of Canning, and I know that my grandmother used it, and her mother before her. The recipe makes about 4 pints, but is easily doubled. The ingredient quantities do not have to be exact, just in the general neighborhood.

Chow Chow Relish

1 quart chopped cabbage (about 1 small head)

3 cups chopped cauliflower (about 1 medium head)

2 cups chopped green tomatoes (about 4 medium)

2 cups chopped sweet onions (about 2 medium)

2 cups chopped sweet green peppers (about 4 small)

1 cup chopped sweet red peppers (about 2 small)

3 Tablespoons salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons celery seed

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1 teaspoon mustard seed

1 teaspoon tumeric

1/2 teaspoon ginger

2 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

Combine vegetables in large bowl, sprinkle with salt. Let stand 4-6 hours. Drain well. Then rinse, and drain again.

Combine sugar, spices, and vinegar in a large kettle. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Add vegetables; simmer 10 minutes. Bring to a boil. Pack hot relish into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps.

Process in a boiling water canner 10 minutes.

Yield: about 4 pints.