In the center front plate is a Silvia's delacata squash. They really are slightly sweet. A pleasant surprise. In front of that is Tom's "crazy squash" cucuzzi. These are the first harvested so I haven't eaten any yet.

The butterstick summer squashes are still producing nicely. Now look at the "baseball bat" zucchini squashes. Most people would throw them away but I will be making an excellent zucchini relish with them. A recipe that I have been making since I was 17 years old. My kids always loved it...and still do.

Well, that's it for now.

Christine

Nice harvest! The delicata squash gets sweeter if left longer on the vine. You can actually eat at any stage of ripeness. A quick way to prepare:

Peel the squash with a vegetable peeler, slice off the ends and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut the squash into rings about 1/3 inch thick. Saute in olive oil over medium heat until richly colored at the bottom, about 6 minutes. Turn and cook on the other side till tender. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley.

I also liked them cut up in small pieces, garlic, sage, a little bit of flour, salt and pepper, olive oil. Roast them at 350 till done. Mix it with cooked pasta.

Mine are still on the vines, I maybe eat one today.:o)

Silvia

LOL

Kim

ZUCCHINI RELISH

10 cups ground zucchini
5 cups ground onion
1 red pepper (ground)
1 green pepper (ground)
5 tablespoons salt

2 1/4 cups white vinegar
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons celery seeds
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon turmeric

Put ground zucchini, onion, peppers and salt in a bowl. Let stand covered overnight.

Rinse and drain very well in cold water. Squeeze out excess water.

Put rinsed zucchini mixture in a large dutch oven (large pot) with remaining ingredients. Bring to a gentle boil and simmer until cooked, about 10 minutes. Pour into warm canning jars. Process in a waterbath for 5 minutes. If omitting the waterbath process, then refrigerate. Makes 4 1/2 pints.

I made a batch of zucchini relish last week. When I cut up the zucchini I do not use the pithy center. I use only about 3/8 inch of the outer part of the squash. I throw away the center. It is pictured in the center plate. As I mentioned it is best to use overgrown zucchinis.

One time I forgot to rinse the salty ground mixture. Big mistake! Be sure not to forget this step.

For grinding the zucchini, peppers and onions I use a food processor. As for salt, I only use canning salt. In the picture, the large bowl on the right has the ground mixture with the salt added. All I needed to do is to add plastic wrap on it so it could sit covered. I ground this mixture in the morning, and I cooked the relish in the evening. This is the best tasting relish you have ever tasted---honest.

Christine

Silvia---Thanks for the recipes for the delicata squash. I plan on picking the squashes soon.

Michael---I don't have any cubanelles. If you want to make this relish recipe, I may have some extra overgrown zucchinis that I haven't fed to our new chickens yet. Let me know soon.

Christine