It's started. Yesterday, I made sweet pickle relish, recipe straight from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving, page 52; and a big hit with everyone in the family. My mother eats it on pizza. I add it to salads, and eat it with hot dogs as merely a chaser. I've also been know to add it to sloppy Joes.
Today, though, the topic is squash. I planted a couple hills over the ten-year old box elder stump at the bottom of my garden. I like yellow squash sauteed with a bit of butter. I like them young, before seeds have formed and really tiny sliced into fresh salads. Just now, when I mentioned "tiny", the idea of dilly squash (they are a member of the cucumber family!) came to mind. How about pickling them with strips of red pepper when they are about two inches long?
Truth is, I am going to be inundated with them. Even splitting them with my sister-in-law's family and handing a couple to my mother, and maybe Andrea, the non-gardener with four children under 10, will not take up all the slack.
I need to come up with recipes that have my teenage son eating them. He is the principle eater in this household. So breaded and fried, a few in stir-fry (possibly cut in strips, blanched, and frozen) are all ideas I need to explore.
If you have a yummy recipe, let me know. Today, these summery yellow beauties will be swimming in boiling water for three minutes to blanch them on their way to my freezer.
But... there will me more to come...
Oh Yum!! The family adores squash, bought one yesterday that looks like your yellow ones only its green, very thick skin and bigger, they call it Hubbard squash here- the flavour is rich and buttery. Sorry don't have any good recipes for you..gonna check out your pickle ones sounds great!
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