Hold That Thought!

The garden continues to pump out the produce at an almost alarming rate of speed. What to do with all those zucchini? One thing we’ve done with this abundance is to make zucchini relish.

Canning is a time-honored tradition, one that my grandmother taught my mother, my mother taught me (AND my daughters!). It seemed that it was becoming a lost art in this high-tech world, but with the current economic conditions people are looking for ways to save money and make the most of what they have. Canning is one good way to do that.

Bob and I REALLY went back in time to put up the relish, enlisting the help of a Universal Food Chopper that is more than 100 years old!

Since the Universal Food Chopper makes a bit of a mess (zucchini, onion and pepper juice everywhere) we set up the grinding station out on the patio on a plywood work surface.

Here I am, getting a workout on the Universal Food Chopper.

This kitchen relic has a patent pending date of 1899 stamped on the side. It is a simple tool, consisting of a chute through which the vegetables (or other food items) are processed, a crank with turns a large corkscrew-like piece inside that pulverizes the items going into the chute.

A bit of cranking and grinding, and before you know it, you have a juicy pile of ground up veggies.

My recipe for zucchini relish, which came to me from my mom, consists of ground zucchini, ground onion, ground green and red peppers, apple cider vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, salt, and lots of elbow grease!

Anyone wanting the complete recipe with quantities and cooking instructions can send me a comment and I’ll email them to you.

Below are photos of Bob, who also got into the grinding act, and the finished product!

It’s mid-July and our gardens are going gang-busters! I thought I’d post a few pictures. I had never been much of a gardener until I married Bob. His love and enthusiasm for gardening is contagious! We have a sort of arrangement… he is in charge of the vegetable gardens (this year there are three!), I’m in charge of the flower beds, and the shade garden out front is a joint project. It’s a big yard, so these gardens keep us busy during the spring and summer months.

It’s amazing how fast things grow. Just a few months ago there was a bare patch of ground where now there are rows of corn, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, beets, peas, lettuce, broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, onions, zucchini, eggplant, zucchini, cantaloupe, cucumbers… did I mention the zucchini? 

The picture above was taken almost a month ago, so imagine how big it is now! We’ve already had stuffed zucchini Italiano, zucchini bread, grilled zucchini and have used it in stir fry. We’ve also taken bags of zucchini to our workplaces and I’ve given it away to friends.  This afternoon I got the other ingredients needed to make zucchini relish and I will be putting up jars of that to enjoy for months to come.

This shot of the Zorko Veggie Garden #1 is also about a month old. Farmer Bob is seen enjoying his morning cup of Tully’s.

Well, I’d better get busy… I have a pile of zucchini waiting!