Difficulty Level Easy to Moderate

When I was left at the cottage on my own for the weekend, I was delighted to be invited to dinner at my neighbour Elizabeth's house. These neighbours are the best a person could have - their home is always open, whether a dock to park our boat or an open invitation to Thanksgiving dinner. So when they found out I was home alone for the weekend, they immediately invited me to share a meal with them. With this meal, Elizabeth served some of her mother's homemade relish. Not being a fan of relish, I politely tried it. I then proceeded to smother my food in it. Of course, I had to get the recipe.

Elizabeth called her mother and found the recipe, which turned out to be massive. Mom and I were incredibly excited to make this for two reasons: one, it was the biggest recipe we've made so far (everything else we'd made a lot of had been in two or three batches), and two, it was the first time we were making what was, essentially, a family recipe. Every other recipe we'd made so far had come from a book or a website - now we were making something that had a history. There is something wonderful about making something that has been perfected over generations and made with love every time. Suffice it to say, we had about as much fun making it as we possibly could have, and we have thoroughly enjoyed eating it. And what could be better than that?

While the recipe calls for the vegetables to be put through a grinder, mom and I had to put a little more work through it. Suffice to say, if you don't have a grinder or a cuisinart, I highly recommend cutting the recipe in half. Our recipe turned out vastly different from what I had at Elizabeth's (though still completely delicious), and I think this may have been one of the causes. Either way, it is completely delicious, and you will end up with enough jars to last your family until the next time the vegetables are in season.

INGREDIENTS