Putting Up For Fall and other Random Thoughts

My garden has been dismal this year, so almost no produce was yielded as a result.  The tomatoes did not thrive, nor did the peppers.  Onions are still in the ground where they will stay until the last minute.  The Swiss Chard did well, however.  My battle with the rocky garden continues, but I will try again next year!

I love canning and putting up for winter.  If I had enough tomatoes, I make a killer tomato juice, spicy and delicious.  My dad used to come every fall with all his tomatoes from the garden and we'd spend a couple days canning tomato juice and split the proceeds.  We always had a great time working together.  I've also canned fresh Pennsylvania peaches in the past, and they are nothing like the canned peaches you buy in the store.  I remember a friend who had an entire wall of canned goods each year.  It was thrify and homey, and I admired the creativity she put into each recipe.  This year I have already made blueberry jam, and have 20 lbs of beets and 50 lbs of cabbage to process in the next couple days.    I already blogged about making sauerkraut last year, so I won't repeat that this year. Needles to say, I'm making twice the amount this year: http://dewonapetal.blogspot.com/2009/10/making-sauerkraut-old-fashioned-way.html 

I bought 60 ears of corn from a local farmer and have already put of 24 pints and 9 half-pints of corn relish.  We still have regular canned corn from last year, but ran out of corn relish pretty quickly, so we made extra this year. 

So I thought I would post my corn relish recipe tonight for you.  The basic recipe is from CountryLiving, but I've added more turmeric, fewer onions and more celery seed to suit my taste.  You can adjust any of the seasonings to suit your taste, except the vinegar and sugar.  You can also add hot peppers if you want to add some kick.

Ingredients:
Corn cut off the husks, about 10-12 ears making 8 cups
4-6 onions chopped (about 4 cups)
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups vinegar (cider or regular)
1 cup sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp turmeric

Add everything to a large pot, bring to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes.  The turmeric will make the corn a beautiful rich yellow. 

Sterilize 6 pint jars and lids in hot soapy water.  Get your water boiling in a large canning pot with a rack, filling it about half full.  Using a wide-mouth funnel, fill each jar with the corn relish, then go back and add the hot liquid, leaving 1/2" headspace.  Use a chopstick or skewer to remove any bubbles.  Place the lids on each jar, add the ring and finger tighten.  Place them on the rack and lower into boiling water.  The water and the jars are both hot, so it should start boiling again pretty quick.  Process for 15 minutes, then remove jars and place on a towel, not touching each other.  Pretty soon, you'll hear the popping of the lids sealing the jars! 

 

Store in a cool dry place out of direct sunlight and enjoy the bounty of your havest throughout the year!  These also make great gifts.