The Craftiest Workshop

I decided to plant a lot of tomato plants this year.

Last year there was a shortage of starter plants to buy at the stores due to the 2020 flood in Fort Mac.

I wanted to make sure that no matter what I had some for my garden.

It turns out that every seed that I planted came up.

I had planted four seeds in each container.

I was able to give a few plants away to friends and neighbors but still had many left.

My eldest son ended up planting them all for me and they all continued to flourish.

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We came home on the August long weekend to this mass of tomato plants.

Some had green fruit on them and all had many flowers.

I trimmed the bottom leaves of those I could get to and created a path to make watering easier.
The realization hit me that I had better make a plan of what to do with the tomatoes for the next time I was home.

Then I remembered this recipe.

This recipe was given to me by a friend in Trenton.
She calls it chili sauce but it tastes more like a relish to me.

Years after she gave it to me, she reached out to me asking if I still had the recipe because she had lost hers.

I was able to share it back to her and now I will share it with you.

Sweet Tomato Relish

Ingredients

12 cups peeled ripe tomatoes cut into eighths

3 cups finely chopped celery

2 cups chopped onion

1 sweet pepper chopped finely

1/4 cup pickling salt

2 cups sugar

1 cup vinegar

2 Tbsp mustard seed

1 can tomato paste

Directions

Put full tomatoes into boiling water to blanch for 1 minute.

Peel and cut them into eighths then measure 8 cups well packed.

In a large bowl, stir the tomatoes, celery, onion and pepper.

Sprinkle with pickling salt, cover and let sit over night.

In the morning, pour the vegetables into a colander and let them drain.

Add drained vegetables to a large pot and add sugar, vinegar and mustard seed.

Boil gently for 45 min or until celery is softened and tomatoes are cooked to a mush; stirring often.

Add tomato paste and boil another 15-30 minutes until thickened to the consistency you want.

Jar and seal.

Follow the same easy canning method as for my sweet cucumber relish.

This recipe yields six 500 ml jars.

It tastes great on anything you would normally put ketchup on as it has a similar flavour.
I have had it on eggs, hot dogs and even pasta!!