Category Archives: food

Zucchini relish recipe

August 16, 2019food, Friendssusanmanzke

A person is lucky to have friends. I’m one lucky person because I have many good friends. One gave me this recipe a couple of years ago. Her name is Carol P.

I do not care to can. When our children were young and underfoot, I worried they would come into the kitchen when I was canning and get burnt. What usually happened, as I was trying to keep them safe, I burned myself.

Today I finished making Zucchini relish and canned it.

The peppers were chopped and added to the rinsed and drained zucchini and onion mixture–I sure hope I rinsed out the salt well enough. It does take a lot of work to get everything set.

After simmering the concoction for half an hour, I filled my heated jars. Today I tried another friend’s suggestion of using the oven to finish the pickled mixture instead of a water bath–fingers crossed this works.

Here’s Carol’s recipe:

Zucchini Relish (Makes 8 to 9 pints)

10 C. ground zucchini

4 lg. ground onions

5 T. salt

2 1/2 C vinegar

6 C. sugar

2 tsp. celery seed

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. turmeric

1 T. cornstarch

1 red pepper, chopped fine

1 green pepper, chopped fine

Combine zucchini, onions, and salt. (Use entire zucchini, skin and all.) Let stand overnight. Drain and rinse well. Add rest of the ingredients. Simmer 30 minutes. Fill hot jars and seal. Process in hot water bath if desired. Excellent on hot dogs, brats, and hamburgers–this recipe was published in the What’s Cooking? cookbook printed in 1984 by the St. John the Baptist School, Seymour, Wisconsin.

We now have enough for an entire year and some to share.

Let me know if you make your own batch. The first time I made this I cut the recipe in half. That worked just as well.

Zucchini relish

August 15, 2019Chickens, food, fun, worksusanmanzke

I was given two extra-large zucchini to give to our chickens, but I only gave the chickens the inside seeds and scraps. I took the rest and ground it up today with onion and salt. It will sit overnight and tomorrow I will continue with the recipe when I will drain and rinse and drain this mixture and continue making my relish.

Today was enough work with washing up my food processor after using it to grind up the zucchini and onion.

I don’t can much these days. I only do a few things I like that I can’t get anywhere else. Zucchini relish is one of these things.

Now doesn’t that look tasty?

Of course, there’s cleanup. I have to admit some dishes were from our lunch.

The scrap cleanup will be done by the chickens.

When I blog next, I’ll include the complete recipe. Today is just a tease.

Seymour Glows Tonight!

August 9, 2019food, Memories, Odds and ends, Wisconsinsusanmanzke

It’s the 31st Annual Burger Fest in Seymour Wisconsin this weekend.

Tonight there will be a hot air balloon glow by Rockledge Park. This will also happen Saturday night. Here are a few photos I’ve taken of past events.

My effort at being creative as the balloons take shape.

Photographer Steve Kemp was in the fire truck basket taking photos from a different angle.

Tomorrow is the 8 am Bun run and World’s largest Hamburger Parade at 11. And don’t forget the Ketchup slide at 4.

I’ll be helping in the museum in the afternoon on Saturday. Stop on in.

Growing flock

August 1, 2019Chickens, Farming, food, petssusanmanzke

Our chicks were hatched six weeks ago and have been growing fast ever since.

Feathers are still coming in. They are no longer those cute balls of fluff.

These birds are on their own now. Mother isn’t needed. As ‘teenagers’ they think they know everything and are often the last to go in to roost. We just hope that doesn’t make them dinner for local preditors.

Preparations begin

July 24, 2019Family, food, Memories, Weathersusanmanzke

The coming weekend is our annual Camp Manzke on Sunnybook Farm. All our children and grandchildren will be here at one time or another.

Last year we had cool wet weather. This year we hope for better days and nights.

We hope to have a good turnout again in 2019, but will be missing one or two relatives from Illinois. Hoping to see them later this summer.

Now food and needed stuff are being parceled out so we don’t have tons of one thing and not enough of another–a friend went to a potluck picnic once where everyone brought baked beans.

I can’t wait for everyone to arrive. It will be a wild and crazy weekend. I will let you know how it all turns out, eventually.

Susan Manzke

Writer, Speaker, All-Around Good Person