SQUASH RELISH

MMMMM......if you have never had homemade squash relish you just don't know what you are missing!!  A few years ago my younger son sampled some squash relish from our local farmers market.  He really, really liked the flavor of it and polished off the entire jar with a bag of tortilla chips.  Last year I had a bumper crop of yellow squash and decided to make my own.  I couldn't find a recipe that looked like what we had sampled at the farmers market, so I ended up taking my sweet cucumber relish recipe and substituting yellow squash where it called for cucumbers.....it turned out PERFECT!!!  The first time I took some of this relish to a potluck at church a few people looked at me like I was crazy....but the end result was an empty jar!!  My Moma likes to add it to her salad instead of salad dressing.  I love it with tortilla chips just like my son!!  Because this is a cooked recipe you can eat it pretty much as soon as it's cool enough that it won't burn your tongue.  ENJOY!!

Because this disappears so quickly I pack mine in pint sized jars instead of the half pint recommended by the recipe.  Of course the half pint make great gifts!!!  Maybe I'll do that with my next batch!

SQUASH RELISH
Yield: about 8 half pints

1 quart chopped yellow squash2 cups chopped onions (about 2 medium)
1 cup chopped sweet green pepper (about 1 medium)
1 cup chopped sweet red pepper (about 1 medium)
1/4 cup salt
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 TBSP celery seed
1 TBSP mustard seed
2 cups cider vinegar

Combine squash, onions, green and red peppers in a large bowl; sprinkle with salt and cover with cold water. Let stand 2 hours. Drain; rinse and drain thoroughly. Combine sugar, spices and vinegar in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil. Add drained vegetables; simmer 10 minutes. Pack hot relish into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling-water canner.