Sweet/Hot Relish-Canning Week

Have you entered your canning recipe yet? Make sure to link up your post, as well as vote for your favorite! The post with the most "likes" will receive a Ball Canning Discovery Kit!  That's also the place to enter to win a box of Pacific Pectin! For each comment you leave during Canning Week (either here or over at A Latte With Ott,A) make sure you enter using the Rafflecopter form!

We love having cucumbers in our garden, but it seems like we always grow way more than we could ever eat. We usually can a bunch of pickles, but again, you can only eat so many pickles! So this year, we decided to try canning some relish. Here's what you'll need:

• About 6 lbs of pickling type cucumbers to yield 3 quarts chopped cucumbers
• 4 cups chopped sweet peppers
• 2 cups chopped hot peppers (we used a mix of banana and jalapeno peppers)
• 2 onions (to yield 1 cup chopped onions)
• 3/4 cup canning or pickling salt
• 4 cups ice
• 8 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 tsp each of mustard seed, turmeric, whole allspice, and whole cloves
• 6 cups white vinegar  

In a large bowl, combine the quarts chopped cucumbers, peppers, onions, pickling salt, 2 cups of ice and 4 cups of water and let stand for 4 hours. Use more of each water and ice , if needed to cover the veggies.

After 4 hours, drain and discard the water. Now, cover everything with 2 cups of ice and 4 cups of water and let it stand for another hour. Drain again.


Combine the 4 tsp each of mustard seed, turmeric, whole allspice, and whole cloves in a large pot. Add spices to 2 cups sugar and 6 cups white vinegar. Heat to the vinegar and spice mix to a boil.

Strain the spice mixture through a cheesecloth and pour the spice/vinegar over the chopped vegetables and then cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, (up to 36 hours).
The next day, it's time to can! Heat the relish to boiling, stirring frequently. Fill the hot jars with relish and put the lid and rings on. Fill the pint or half pint jars with the relish leaving 1/4" to 1/2" headspace. Seal the lid and tighten the ring around them. Process 15 minutes in a waterbath canner.

Wouldn't this be a great gift along with a grilling set?

What's your favorite thing to pickle? Eggs? Beets? Cucumbers? Link up for canning recipe here and remember to vote for your favorite! Guest Judge Kate from the blog The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking will choose the linked up blog post with the best recipes, pictures and overall write up and award a copy of her new book The Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking. We also have a prize for the entry with the most "likes"! Now hop on over and check out A Latte With Ott,A to see what she's canning today.