Chow-Chow?

I can remember the big mason jar of this stuff every time we sat down  at my great-grandmother's table. I'd stare at it skeptically  as my dad scooped it onto his beans with relish and passed the jar around the table. I can't remember even once actually trying it. So when I found this recipe in the collection, I thought I should finally give chow-chow a go.  

First off, take a look at it. The list of ingredients is insane - two gallons of green tomatoes, three heads of cabbage, 12 onions, 12 red peppers, 12 green peppers, 12 apples, six pounds of sugar? 

This recipe is attributed to "Ma Ma Griffin," who, I'm pretty sure, is my grandfather's grandmother. I envision it as a once a year thing; made with friends, canned, shared with neighbors and stored up for particularly lean times. So right off the bat, I cut the recipe by six. 

I was also unable to find green tomatoes this time of year, so I substituted tomatillos. One thing that may hinder me slightly in this little experiment is that I'm really not a "by the books" kind of cook. I like to play, toss in dabs of this and pinches of that. I do, however, like to think that I inherited this tendency from my great-grandmother and since these are her recipes - it should all turn out just fine. 

This recipe calls for grinding all of these vegetables and fruits by hand. Hand-grind 48 vegetables, two gallons of tomatoes and three cabbages? I don't think so; out came the food processor. Once I got started, the recipe was really very easy. Chop all the fruits/vegetables and let them drain overnight. The result was a bright, colorful hash. 



The next morning I added vinegar and brown sugar and voila, chow-chow. I love the last line of this recipe, it's a personal touch you just don't find in cookbooks or online. I'm not sure chow-chow will become a staple on my table, but it sure was fun to finally give it a try.