Spicy Fiesta Relish

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We had an great weekend spending time with Stephen's family who was all here for Christmas.  The Murrill girls were especially sweet and I it was a treat to spend so much time with them!  So this Christmas I decided to make many gifts.  I like the thoughtfulness that goes into homemade gifts and this relish was one gift I made.  I made this for Stephen's dad who loves this kind of thing when we go to Mexican restaurants, but many other people enjoyed it too.  It is so easy to make I couldn't believe it!  I had always been hesitant to embark on the pickling process but it really was a breeze.  The serving size for this recipe is quite large, enough for you and all your friends, but you could adjust it to make less.  I ended up with about 7-8 jars of various sizes.

Spicy Fiesta Relish

4 lbs carrots (peeled and sliced)
1 lb fresh jalepenos (sliced)
3 red onions
1 cup frozen corn
9 cups white vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar

 Slice jalepenoes into even pieces.  Be careful not to touch your eyes in the process! 

 Peel and chop the carrots into nice even pieces as well. 

 Slice 3 red onions into large pieces.  Break them apart into a big bowl. 

Combine all ingredients into a large bowl, add 1 cup frozen corn.

(Add other ingredients you like such as garlic, cauliflower, etc. Let me know what ideas you have!)

Combine vinegar and sugar into a large pot (I had to use 2 large pots for the size of this recipe) and stir until the mixture comes to a boil and the sugar is dissolved.  Pour the vegetables into the vinegar, turn off the heat and cover.  Make sure the vegetables are covered by the liquid.  Let it sit for 1 hour.  Then store in glass jars in the refrigerator, unless you seal the jars... I'm still working on that.  At this point, it will likely taste very vinegary, put in the refrigerator for a couple days to let the flavors marinade then enjoy with chips, crackers, or on top of your favorite Mexican dish.

 Add a bow to dress it up!