Rescued cucumber

This cucumber had been hiding under our summer savory when I found it Tuesday night. Cuke weighs 1½ lbs., three times what a normal slicer cucumber weighs, and is blemished and yellowing.

I brought it into the house with the other cukes I’d picked, but told Hubby I intended to throw it out.

“It’s too big to eat,” I said.

“No, don’t throw it away,” he said. “I’ll cut out the seeds and will use it for a sauce.”

Just like this cucumber, many of us were headed for the Dumpster. Our lives were seen as bitter and blemished, worthless for anything but the landfill.

But then the Master said, “No, don’t throw her away. I have a purpose for this life. I must deal with the seeds of sin. I must cut away the blemishes, but I am patient. I will do what is necessary to complete my plan for her redemption. After all, I have already paid for it on the cross.”

Tasty Cucumber Relish

Last year I looked for a cucumber relish recipe online. I found the best relish I've ever eaten.

If you’ve never canned or pickled, PaulNoll.com gives excellent step-by-step instructions, complete with photos, of how to make the relish.

Hubby and I have made some changes to the recipe.

Here is our version.

Tasty Cucumber Relish

Vegetables
6 lbs. grated or chopped cucumbers
1 grated white onion
1 grated carrot
10 chopped or grated medium bell peppers (if possible, include some red, yellow and/or orange peppers for better color)

Mix together. Grating will make a coarser relish than chopping will.

Brine
1 T. turmeric
1/2 C. salt
8 C. water

Mix together.

Pour brine over vegetables. Stir well and let sit for 3 hours. Drain. Cover with water and let stand for 1 hour. Drain, refill with water and drain again.

Syrup
1 T. mustard seed
1 T. cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
2 t. allspice
2 C. brown sugar
4 C. cider vinegar

Mix and bring to boil, then pour over vegetables. Let stand 10-12 hours.

Boil before filling prepared jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Make sure liquid covers vegetable mix. Process in water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 7 pint jars.

Our cucumbers are bearing prolifically right now, so we tripled the recipe this time. I thought I had enough for four batches, but the 23 lbs. I started with became 19 lbs. by the time I removed the ends and blemishes from the cucumbers and deseeded large the ones.

Unfortunately, our peppers aren’t keeping up with the cukes, so I had to buy 34 peppers at the grocery store. The cashier’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she saw how many peppers I had in the cart. (We’ll freeze the unused peppers.)

We mixed the recipe in storage containers because we had no other containers large enough.

The Frugal Gardener always feels so virtuous when she preserves her own food!