At some point in my teens I hand copied my mother’s recipe box, the internet made cards almost obsolete. My recipe box still sits on the shelf in plain sight, I’m slowing digitizing family favorites.
During my childhood, fall’s overabundance of produce would be sealed in a brine for use during the long winter. Cucumbers and tomatoes would would turn into pickles and relishes. As an adult, I don’t can, pickles and relish never were my favorite.
Cleaning my recipe box, I was curious when a card for Celery Relish caught my attention. We canned only what we could grow, celery was for a much warmer and longer growing season. My mother was born in the mid thirties, the depression meant people wouldn’t purchase goods transported across the country. I’ll have to ask her what the story is behind this, why she would have a celery relish recipe in her collection. I’ll ask if she had made this in her past, perhaps it was something that caught her attention that she never attempted.
Mom’s Celery relish recipe (image via FoodNetwork)
My husband doesn’t like uncooked celery, I was surprised with his love of celery soup. Perhaps I’ll try this relish recipe, not for me but as a test of his dislike for celery.
Celery Relish
A surprising relish recipe from mom’s collection. We never made this, nor have I ever tasted it.
- 1 pint cut up celery
- 1 pint chopped onion
- 2 chopped green pepper
- 2 chopped red pepper
- 1 cup vinegar
- 1 cup water
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp mustard seed
- Cook combined ingredients slowly until clear and tender; about 30 minutes. Can using sterilized jars and lids. Check to be sure each jar has sealed before storing.
Celery relish sounds interesting. We grew celery 2 summers ago and it grew through November. It was tough and bitter. A pretty plant but no matter how I tried to prepare it, it just was tough and bitter! I enjoy trying a new vegetable in the garden but I won’t repeat growing celery. Maybe you Mom had a similar experience? Not worth using the other ingredients!
I’ve started a few plants from the stem end of store bought celery, they seem to be growing well. I’ll let you know how they taste when harvested.
The whole concept of the recipe box has changed. When I started my family, I started one that I assumed would get passed down to my girls but with the introduction of the internet, you are much more likely to see one of my daughters at the computer calling out ingredients that pouring over my recipe book.
Having my own recipe box was a big deal as a girl, a Betty Crocker cookbook made it a complete set. Once books became commonplace, the necessity of a recipe box started it’s decline. I’m still using the recipes passed down through the years along with: cook books and cloud based recipes. Am I a hip grandmother for forwarding recipes to family via social media? Or trying to avoiding cramping from handwriting.