Chow Chow can be found in almost all the family style restaurants in Lancaster County, PA. It is a Pennsylvania Dutch pickled relish. This is an item that is hard to come by if you don’t live in an area populated by Amish or Mennonites . Since I have not been able to find Chow Chow in Colorado, I decided to break out my canning equipment and make my own.

September is the perfect time of year to make Chow Chow; with vegetables fresh from your garden or a local farmer’s market.

When I cook, I usually have many different recipes in front of me. I take a little from each one and make my own version. That is really easy to do with Chow Chow, since you can make it with so many different kinds of vegetables.

Here are the veggies that I like to use:

Mary Ann’s Chow Chow

3 cups chopped cauliflower
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped red pepper
4-6 fresh ears of corn on the cob – cooked for 4 minutes then cut off the cob
2 -3 cups sliced carrots
3 cups yellow and green string beans – cut into 2 inch pieces
1 can of red kidney beans
3 cups lima beans
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 cups granulated sugar
1 quart of white vinegar

Chop vegetables in varying sizes and cook until just tender (do not overcook). Cook vegetables in separate pots then mix them all together.

Combine sugar (you can adjust this to make it less sweet), vinegar and dry mustard in a large pot and bring to a boil.

Pack sterilized canning jars with mixed vegetables and pour the vinegar solution to 1/2″ from the top of jar; seal and process in a hot water bath (water should cover jars by 1″-2″). Process 15 minutes in the boiling water bath. Increase time if at high altitude – check freshpreserving for times. If you have a pressure canner, that would be the preferred device.