Sweet Pickle Relish

Pickle relish is on my ever expanding list of items not to buy at the grocery store because all the major brands contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. I have found some good organic brands but they are all at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's and the closest stores are 3 hours away. So, I decided to plant some cucumbers this year, just to have enough to try making our own pickle relish. I found a recipe that looked good in my "So Easy to Preserve" book from UGA. Yesterday was relish day.

The recipe called for 4 cups cucumbers, 1 green bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper and 1 onion. I chopped these all down in the food processor and followed the rest of the recipe. The vegies had to soak in water and salt for 2 hours and that was the longest step of the recipe. Cooking them with the vinegar and spices only took about 10-12 minutes. Then it was put into canning jars and the water bath canner.

After they cooled we put one jar in the fridge to have today on our hamburgers. In one word the taste is YUMMY! I made some more today and put it in pint jars, cause a 1/2 pint just won't last long around this house.

I have 1 jar that looks perfect...enough relish, enough juice, etc. It will be entered in the State Fair this year. Hope the judges like it!

Note: Chopping the vegies in the food processor made it a fine relish. We like the consistency but it is smaller than the grocery store brands. Might try chopping one batch by hand and just compare the 2. This recipe is a keeper!