Relish

Holy moly, I was busy tonight!

Had planned to go out to my folks house, toting their new TV for them in my incredi-van, but Dad called around 5:30 and said that he was running really late and hey, would I mind if we postponed for another day? I agreed, glad because Harrison and I had been shopping for Christmas presents and we were really kind of shot, energy-wise. Once we got home, though, I realized that I had a big, horking bowl of green tomatoes from my super-awesome garden that (holy crap!) is still producing. (Actually, I think that last cold snap we had finally killed everything off, but the bowl of tomatoes seriously came out of it, like, a week or two ago.)

So, I’ve got all this now-free-time on my hands; what’s a girl to do? Make Green Tomato Relish, of course! I set out to chopping and slicing and dicing and about halfway through the veggie prep, I realized that, holy crap! I forgot to return Harrison’s movie to the library! Oy!

So I get supercharged, getting the salsa cut, mixed and cooking. I realized, as well, that 1) I hadn’t watered the tree in several days (holy crap!), 2) the glass jars I was going to can into needed to be sterilized so the dishwasher needed to be emptied and refilled with them, and 3) I had laundry that needed to be changed to the dryer. Oh, and some really stank stuff that needed to go to the compost pile. Oh, yeah, and two kids who needed supper and some entertainment.

After foisting the kids on the hubby, I rushed about watering the tree, dumping the compost and then left out to return the movie while the tomatoes and friends simmered. Lemme tell ya, walking back into a room in which onions and apple cider vinegar have been hanging out will make you cry. :)

So, long story short, the relish is finished, canned and so pretty!

This is the first time since my Grandparents died that I have tried canning—my Grandpa taught me to make plum jelly from plums in my front yard and he showed me how to preserve them. I’ve been scared to try it all these years, but tonight while cooking and ladling and boiling and listening to that distinctive ‘pop!’ of the cans sealing, I thought about him a lot and felt closer to him than I have in a long time. I felt really proud that I was able to produce something like this, start to finish, all by myself and I’m excited to see what I’m going to grow and preserve next year.

Thanks, Grandpa!