This post is contributing to the Canadian Food Experience Project.

The Canadian Food Experience Project began June 7, 2013. As participants across Canada share our collective stories through our regional food experiences, we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity.

November 2013: The Canadian Harvest in Southern Alberta

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Almost anyone can harvest zucchini from their gardens here, not that I’ve ever tried in my tiny little veggie patch,
but there’s always plenty available at the Farmer’s Market.

It must be easy to grow because it seems zucchini is one of the most “gifted”vegetables.

For years my family has been making this zucchini relish, I think it’s the best zucchini relish recipe and so does my family.
Try as we might, store bought relishes just don’t come close.

This beloved family recipe came from my parent’s neighbor, Avril
{ along with a few zucchinis } and they’ve been making it ever since.

We love this relish with ham, on sandwiches, wraps and well, with almost everything.

The best part for those of you who are afraid to preserve jams and relishes, these jars just pop in the freezer when you’re done!

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I decided it was time I learned how to make my own and to stop begging for a jar after every summer with my parents at Mabel Lake.

I made one failed attempt years ago and I believe I substituted celery salt for celery seed,
needless to say it was inedible, so make sure you don’t make the same mistake I did.
The celery seed adds a lovely flavor to the relish that you will, er, relish!

In preparation, I stopped in at one of my favorite antique shops to source out a large crock.
I was happy to find one in fairly new condition { number 3 } since I would be using it to prepare food,
I didn’t want one that had cracks, etc.

This one was definitely  large enough to handle a double batch of relish!

As I recall 4 fairly large (not massive) zucchini made one batch as did two large onions.

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These photos were taken on the second day, after the zucchini, onion and salt mixture sat over night on the kitchen counter.
I invited my parents over so I could watch how it’s done and take notes.
{ I promise I don’t always put them to work, but it is fun to cook together! }

Here we’ve scooped out a few cupfuls of relish and are rinsing it in the sink. Out at the lake, my dad takes the entire crock outside and uses a hose to rinse away the salt.

Once you’ve rinsed the salt out, you have to press vigorously to get the moisture out of the relish before moving it to a large pot.

This “bouillion/chinois” sieve really got the moisture out, so we had to adjust by adding water when we were cooking the relish.

Because we doubled the recipe you see written above, we had two pots going and both parents stirred while I took photos.

We discovered at this point we needed to keep adding water while it cooked. Near the 30 minute mark, we put a little on a plate into the freezer for a few seconds to see if the relish had set.

We also discovered that the KitchenAid pot didn’t conduct heat as evenly as the Henckels.

That meant my mom had to keep stirring… and stirring.. with that batch.

Here the jars are all lined up ready to fill with a canning funnel. We thought the metal spoon would keep the jars from cracking when the hot relish was spooned in, but in the end we abandoned doing that and the jars were fine.

Then you just fill up the jars!

Here they are, this is two batches worth, 9 x 500 ml jars and 2 x 250 ml.

I always think a jar of homemade jam, jellies or relish are such a lovely hostess gift when attending Christmas house parties!

Remember if you are looking for a little Christmas (or any time) gift inspiration to check out my project gallery page for ideas.