Faith, Folklore, and Friends

With all the rain we have had this spring and summer, we have had an abundance of squash.  I've shared with my neighbors and cooked it every way I know how.  Still, the squash keep coming. About 35 years ago, I found this recipe for squash pickles in a magazine, and have been making them since.  They are so good! First, slice 8 cups squash in a big bowl. Add 3 cups sliced onions. Cover with 1 cup canning salt. Cover it all with ice cubes.  Let sit for an hour; rinse well. In a large pot, combine 3 cups sugar, 2 cups vinegar, 2 Tablespoons mustard seed, 1 Tablespoon turmeric. Boil for about 5-10 minutes. Pour squash/onion mixture into the pot and let heat.  Do not boil. Pack into hot, sterilized jars (I use pints).  Process in a water bath for five minutes. This recipe makes six pints. The turmeric makes the pickles a bright yellow.  It will stain your cooking utensils but will wear off quickly.  I lov...

  Canning jars, or fruit jars, were plentiful around our house, and we used them for everything.  We couldn't afford fancy stemware for drinking at meals, so we used pint canning jars instead.   It was always a little embarrassing, because I thought that drinking out of those jars meant we were below the poverty level.  But that Kool-Aid Mama put in them was mighty good. The directions on the Kool-Aid package clearly stated that you should add one cup of sugar per two quarts of water.  Mama thought that if one cup was good, then two cups would make it twice as better.  So we blissfully drank that grape and orange nectar from those ice-filled jars, with beautiful condensation on the outside that just made it better. Fifty years later, I'm learning that it is "in" to drink out of canning jars.  I have dined at numerous restaurants that served our beverages in them, and they always remind me of that Kool-Aid syrup we enjoyed so much....