Friday Friend Recipe #91 -- Zuchinni Relish

 

 

 

 

Friday Friend Recipe #91 -- Zucchini Relish

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook: I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends (from all over the county). At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 15 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

 

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

 

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

 

Which brings me to this... recipe #91

 

My Mom's

Zucchini Relish

 

 

 

This recipe of my mom's forced me to go completely outside my comfort zone: canning!!

This was the most challenging recipe for me  to date ( she also turned in carrot pudding in a steamer!!  with hard sauce.  Ugh.  I guess that will come in time)

 

My mom canned a little bit while I was growing up.  This relish was always a staple in our home (my dad loved it) and my mom made pickles.  And sometimes jam.  But usually we did freezer jams.

But I don't can.  It's been years since I helped my mom with anything too.  (she and my sister-in-law always did pickles together )   The last canning I did was grape jelly --40 years ago--back when you put paraffin wax on top of the jar.  I don't think they do that anymore.

Anyway,  I dreaded this recipe, and it turned out not to be that bad.

Of course,  I haven't eaten any of it yet.  I'm nervous of canning things.  Even tho my lids sealed and popped and they are STUCK on those jars---I am cautious.

 

Zucchini Relish

my mom, Bev Hambelton

Kennewick, WA

 

10 cups zucchini

4 cups onion

5 T salt

 

Grate zucchini and onion.

Add salt and soak overnight.

 

6 cups sugar

2 1/4 c. vinegar

1 green pepper--chopped

1 red pepper--chopped

2 tsp celery seed

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 T turmeric

1 T dry mustard

1 T nutmeg

2 T cornstarch

 

Drain the zucchini/onion and rinse.

Add the rest of the ingredients and cook, stirring constantly for 30 minutes, boiling.

Put into jars at once and 'can' in water bath.

 

 

HOLD EVEYTHING!

I just opened a jar.  It was sealed so tight I had a hard time getting it open!

And it tasted.....good.

 

 

 

My mom's story.

Hmmmm.

Well, first, this is my mom's 14th time in the Friday Friend Cookbook Countdown.

You can see all her recipes here (just click)

 

I used to write my parents and my in-laws every week  and ask them 'questions' and once I asked them about gangs--- Here are my parents answers (they graduated in 1957, with a class of 32. They all remained close until the very end of their lives.  My parents are gone, but their best friends are still alive)

 

Gangs

from my mom:

There weren't any gangs when we were in high school.  In fact, there were no drugs or booze either.  If the boys wanted to drink, they would get a six-pack and go out on a dark road and drink them. So our gang was the biggest majority of our class.  We always ran with Jim and Betty and then Mike Hayes, Glynn Barbara Nuxall.  After any game or school we all collected at Davis's Café and drank pop and ate French fries.  We were really pretty dull.

 

When  our class were JR's  we crashed the Senior's sneak.

We all went out to Hayes and Mike's sister had enough pants for all of us girls as we weren't allowed to wear pants in school and then we went down to the Snake River.

It was a one lane dirt road going down a mountain.  We were with Jim and Betty in his old car.   There must have been 10 cars in our caravan, when we met a logging truck coming up the road. He backed up to a corner to let us pass as there was no room and one of his back tires was hanging out into space!!! It was really scary  When we found the seniors, they threw  all the boys in the river, but we had a lot of fun. 

The next day, Jim's brakes went out--so someone was really looking out for us!  All but three were expelled from school for one day and we could not have a sneak when we were seniors, but it was worth it!!

 

same question from

My Dad:

Jim and Betty, your mother and I went on a Junior Sneak (followed the seniors) to  a place called Cow Creek (actually, the whole class skipped and went with the exception of a couple of girls).  I think you've probably heard this story, but we all got thrown in the river but had a great time.  On the way back, the road was so narrow that when meeting a logging truck going the other way, he backed up to let us pass and his rear duals were over the side of a cliff.  Anyway, the next day Jim's brakes went out in his old '42 Chevy.

 

We didn't have gangs in Enterprise, but our class was pretty clicky (and with only 32 class members, hard to do).  Our 'group' consisted of Jim, Betty, Mike Hayes,  Your mother and I. Others from time to time, but we were very close as a  class and I guess you could say the entire class stuck together and pretty much still do. 

Where did we hang out?  The Lake, sporting events, the soda Shoppe and just doing a lot of cruising.

 

 

I think I've mentioned that they grew up on the same block together, so all their stories are the same.  I would always ask them separately and they would send in answers not knowing what the other wrote about.

The Handyman and I grew up in the same area, but not together (he's much older than me.  SORRY. I just have to tease him) so we can have the same memories of events and places if not there together.

 

I like that shared history.

 

What does my mom's story have to do with Food and Relish?

Both my parents mentioned Café or Soda Shoppe, so they must have had burgers  or hot dogs with RELISH!

See?  It all comes around.

 

That's my story.

 

 

 

Here are a couple of  pictures of my mom and dad taken at my son Luke's wedding about 9 years ago.

She was always happiest with family.