Quail Run Ranch

This recipe is delicious and easy to make!…

Our grammy could make just about anything and make it very well. She was a farm wife in the days of cook stoves and large gardens and for one thing she was famous for her angel food cakes. She even had a little home-based business selling the cakes to local people in her eastern Illinois town.

 She made homemade concord grape juice that you couldn’t get enough of. I could drink glass after glass. She made the most delicious ham sandwiches and when we would visit it didn’t matter what time of day or night we arrived even if it was 1 am my dad would say, “Frieda, do you have any ham? I want a sandwich.” And out would come the most delicious home cured ham and homemade bread for a midnight snack.

She made fall off the bone twice baked chicken and Cole slaw and potato salad. She made divinity, caramels and fudge with walnuts at Christmas. We were never hungry when we visited Gramma, and she accomplished all this with a smile and a chuckle regaling us with stories of the old days and her exploits. I miss her every day. This recipe helps me keep her in my heart. My sister and I, with the help of a recipe we found in my mom’s stash, we made our own. It turned out perfectly!

Gramma’s Corn Relish

Makes 7 half pint jars

7 ears of corn – fresh is best. Cut the kernels off the cobs (you can use equivalent canned or frozen)

1/2 medium size green cabbage – shredded (mandoline or box grater)

2-1/2 yellow onions – the size of walnuts or equivalent

3 bell peppers (can be half red and half green)

1/2 large bunch of celery

3-1/2 medium size ripe tomatoes (peeled)

1/8 cup kosher salt

1-1/2 to 2 cups sugar (more is sweeter less is, well, less) (my grammy liked it sweet)

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1/2 tablespoon celery seeds

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

Cut corn from cobs. Shred cabbage. Cut celery and onions into small dice. Remove seeds from peppers and also small dice this. Bring water to boil, submerge tomatoes for a few minutes. Remove and plunge into ice water to stop cooking. Peel tomatoes and dice. Add salt and spices and mix everything together. Start with 1-1/2 cups sugar and then taste and adjust it and the salt according to your liking. (Gramma says, “I like it pretty sweet.”) Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes stirring to prevent stirring to bottom of pot. Water bath can in sterilized jars sealed tightly.

Here’s the original recipe the way my mom wrote it.