Sweet-Hot Pepper Relish: The Recipe

I posted earlier about going to Pine Forest to watch Mom make some of the great pepper relish she’s made for years. I didn’t have

Sweet-Hot Pepper Relish

the recipe at hand when I was writing, but I found it in an old church recipe book that my Mom contributed to. It was published in 1997 as a fund-raiser item. So here it is (this is just the way she wrote it out for that collection):

30 each: red and green cayenne, jalapeno, or other hot peppers (total of 60 +/- peppers)

3 cups white vinegar

3 cups sugar

1-1/2 tsp. salt

7 med. to lg. onions

Chop peppers and onions in food processor or run through grinder. Put vinegar, sugar and salt in 8-quart or larger pan; heat to boiling and stir in peppers and onions. When mixture boils, reduce heat and simmer (stirring often) for 30 minutes. Put in hot sterile jars (jelly jars, 1/2 pints, etc., however your family is most easily accommodated). fit with hot, sterile lids, and tighten rings.

Makes approximately 5 – 8 (1-half) pints. The turnout is largely determined by the size of the peppers and how generous or stingy your measurements are. I tend to have a liberal hand, so my yield is usually pretty good. (Be sure to wear gloves when handling the peppers, the hot feeling penetrate your hands and burn for days. It cannot be easily washed off with soap and water or any other thing I tried.) I leave all the seeds in the peppers, but you can remove them if you wish. The red and green mixture is beautiful in fancy jelly jars to give as Christmas gifts. Also the white seeds, when left in give an added dimension of color. Hope you and yours enjoy!