in a pickle

The afternoon my Nanny first told me we'd be having squash pickles with lunch, I distinctly remember thinking, "Ew." Daddy Tom had fried up a huge mess of crappie that had been plucked from the lake a couple miles from their house, and along with the usual mac-and-cheese, salad, and bread, Nanny brought out the squash pickles.

I bit into one, and distinctly remember thinking, "Wow, these are light, sweet, crunchy, and delicious and may be better than any normal pickles I've eaten. I simply must obtain the recipe!"

(Okay, I was really thinking along the lines of "yum," but I digress...)

And since my second cousin planted a big bag of homegrown squash in my mom's hands and the yellow jewels ended up in my fridge, I finally had the opportunity to make my very own jar of weird pickles. I wish I had some fried crappie to go along with that, (sigh), but they're pretty awesome all on their own.

Squash Pickles

8 cups squash, sliced
2 cups chopped bell pepper
2 cups chopped onions
1 large jar pimiento

Mix the vegetables and soak in 3 quarts of water and 2/3 cup salt for one hour. Drain and rinse, set aside. Then bring the following to a boil:

3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons celery seed
2 teaspoons mustard seed
2 cups white vinegar

Once the sugar-vinegar mixture is boiling, drop in the vegetables and bring back to a boil for one minute. Remove from heat and pack in jars. Let cool, then refrigerate.