BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE . . . here is the 1st of some of the CONDIMENTS you can make "soon" for this autumn, winter and spring.

Simple recipes that simply require patience, but not long to put together. You just the need to wait for the ingredients to release their water, or absorb the flavors or get pickled and/or ferment.

We’re starting with RELISH and more will follow soon enough . . .

Not everybody is familiar with RELISH unless you were raised or lived in North America (it’s just like CHUTNEY but much more finely cut). It’s usually very green (sometimes even too bright green and scary) and often too sweet. My version is less sweet and more multi-colored using cucumbers (I use the small ones but you can use larger ones, but the skins will be tougher and there will be more seeds), more red peppers and an onion. The vegetable ratio is actually 3:2:1 and the strained vegetables to pickling liquid ratio is almost 1:1.

Once the vegetables have lost their water and have been squeezed to their maximum, the role of the pickling mixture is to rehydrate everything. I don’t boil everything together so that the colors remain bright and the taste and texture remain fresh, which is also why the vegetables start off sitting in ice cubes and salt (that melt of course) for 1 day to remain crisp and colorful.

If you make larger quantities, boil the filled and closed jars before storing them away, otherwise the refrigerator is fine for smaller quantities to be used quickly, but if boiled, they will easily last for 1 year.

Anyways, I’ve been really busy lately yet I’ve still managed to keep posting recipes (but simpler ones), maybe I’ll continue with condiments, dips and all those types of extras or maybe I’ll whip up a seasonal dessert for you next time.

You know what ?  Who knows what I’ll do next ! . . . :)