The recipe is in her beautiful handwriting.  She re-wrote most of my recipes five years ago when she came to spend a month at the cottage.  It was the second to last time she was able to come here and She couldn’t do a lot of activities by then.   She Could still organize my recipe box and I am so thankful she took that task upon herself.  I’m thankful because the new cards are not  ripped and tattered.  I am also thankful because now I have a recipe box with the imprint of her life, all over it.   So many of the recipes are hers and to have them sit on my counter, in her beautiful cursive, brings me joy and makes me smile.  This is a gift that I cherish and will, for years to come.

Yield:
approximately 14: 250 ml jars but have a few extras on hand just in case you need them.
You may use jars that you have purchased with other things in them. Jam, relish, chutney, etc. I always keep my jars if possible. Remove the labels and store them for when I might need them.  You can also use smaller jars.  I use a combination of sizes.  The most important thing is that the jars must have rubber lids that are not damaged, so they will seal.
You can also take yourself to Canadian Tire or the grocery store and buy a case of small jars. They will come with lids.

4 large hard apples, peeled and cores removed
8 large ripe cucumbers peeled and seeded
6 large onions
3 red peppers
3 green peppers
1 bunch of celery

Cut the vegetables (and the apple) into small pieces before chopping by hand or by food processor.  Be careful that you don’t completely mash them.  They should be tiny pieces but still pieces and not mush.  The processor chops them very quickly.

chop all of the ingredients as fine as possible OR (and the best option)
chop in a food processor.

put in a bowl with a lid
COVER with 1/2 cup salt dissolved in 4 cups hot water
fasten lid and allow to sit a minimum of 6 hours and up to 24 hours

When you are ready to make the relish it is VERY important to get all of the liquid out of the vegetable mixture. The best way I have found is to use a pillow case. If you feel funny about using one of your lovely 400 count cotton ones, go to the dollar store or Walmart and pick up a cheap one that you can keep in your pickling box for next year. 🙂  NO FLANNEL PLEASE!

Set the bowl and the pillowcase in your sink.
Put the vegetable mixture in the pillow case and either hold the open end or tie a knot in it. Squeeze the liquid out. Do it again. Do it again.
Let it sit in the sink while you make the dressing and then give it another squeeze before you add it to the dressing pot.

Wash small jars (I put mine through the dishwasher. They should be dry and no colder than room temperature.
Set the jars on a cookie sheet.
Put lids in a pot of water and put them on low heat. The rubber on the lids needs to be warm and soft in order to seal.

DRESSING:
In a large stock pot

5 cups white sugar
4 cups white vinegar (which is actually clear)
1 TBLSP. mustard seed
1 TBLSP. turmeric
3 TBLSP. Dry mustard
1/2 cup flour
mix these ingredients with a whisk as you heat it to boiling on medium high heat
Bring to a boil and stir to thicken. Stirring almost constantly.
This dressing should be thick but not too thick. (sorry for the Nanoism but I am not sure how else to say it.)  Boil until it thickens.  This may take twenty to thirty minutes.
If this is a struggle for you, consider how thick regular green relish is.
It should not be runny like water but it will still be liquid.  It will thicken a little bit more when you add your vegetable mixture.

Add the vegetables and stir.   You can turn the heat up to high as long as you stir it.  As soon as it comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium.  Continue cooking for approximately ten minutes, stirring constantly to avoid sticking.

**The last part needs to go quickly. Have your lids in the hot water and be ready to put them on top of the jars. You can use a fork or a spoon or tongs to take the lids out one at a time as you are ready for them.

I ladle the GENTLY boiling relish into a large glass measuring cup and from there, fill my jars, 3 at a time.  If you have some relish left in your measuring cup pour it back into your boiling pot and ladle out a new batch.  This is so that it stays very hot.

****VERY IMPORTANT***
have a clean damp cloth handy and as you fill your jars, leaving half an inch at the top, carefully and quickly wipe the top of the jar before quickly placing the lid on. If there are any tiny bits on the edge of the jar it will NOT seal.
Put the rubber lid on and then screw the ring on as tightly as possible and set aside on a clean tea towel.
Work up to 3 at a time but no more. The relish needs to be boiling when it goes in the jar
or it will NOT seal.

Nano was quite particular about her full jars. She always instructed us not to touch them until we were certain they had sealed. One of her favourite sounds and mine too, was the popping sound of jars sealing. It is very exciting!!  If you notice that for some reason a few of your jars have not sealed after five hours, dump the relish into a pot and heat it again, to boiling and repeat the jar filling process.  Sometimes I have two or three that don’t seal and I need to heat the contents another time.  If your relish is very hot and your lids are in perfect condition, they should seal.  You can tell if your lids have sealed because they will be tight with no give.  Remember though, don’t touch for at least five hours or until they are cooled.  If you tough the top, you might help the lid to seal and that might not be a true seal.

Store away from heat.  The cooler the better but it keeps very well even at room temperature as long as the jars have sealed.

We use this relish on burgers, as an accompaniment for roast beef, on grilled cheese sandwiches (amazing) and just about anything we want to put it on.

Some of us (Rebecca) need supervision when serving themselves or if we aren’t careful an entire jar will disappear in one sitting.

A few years back, I was serving burgers to my children. I did not, for some reason, have any Nano relish handy. I asked Timothy if he would like some regular green relish from the store.
He gave me a look and said
“Mom, I can’t eat That stuff”

Enough said. It’s good Stuff, “Nanorelish”

It is a fair bit of work but so worth it. Take your time (as Nano used to say to me when I was starting out) and relax. It will soon become easy as can be for you and it will be a permanent addition to your
larder.

♥