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the steel blade can make these ingredients lose too much texture.) Put ground vegetables in a crockery or stainless steel bowl, stir in the salt; keep the vegetables in the resulting brine by holding them down with a weighted plate. Let vegetables stand overnight. The next day, drain off the brine and rinse vegetables with cold water; drain again, and squeeze well by hand. Mix cornstarch with the sugar and four other dry seasonings, add all to the cold vinegar, blending well.

Over medium heat, bring to boiling, stirring well to prevent lumping. When sugar is melted and the syrup is clear, add the vegetables; simmer 30 minutes, stirring often. Pour into clean very hot jars, leaving ½ inch of headroom; adjust sterilized lids, and process for 15 minutes in a Boiling–Water Bath (212 F/100 C). Remove; complete seals if using bailed jars.

• Adjustment for my altitude _________________.

Corn Relish

4 pints

4 cups corn kernels (about 9 ears’ worth)

1 cup diced sweet green peppers

1 cup diced sweet red peppers

1 cup finely chopped celery

½ cup minced onion

1½ cups cider or distilled white vinegar

¾ cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon celery seed

¼ teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1½ teaspoons dry mustard

½ teaspoon ground turmeric, for color (optional)

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, for thickening (optional)

Prepare corn by boiling husked ears for 5 minutes, cooling, and cutting from cob (do not scrape). In an enameled or stainless steel kettle combine peppers, celery, onion, vinegar, sugar, salt, celery seed, and Tabasco sauce; boil 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Dip out ½ cup hot liquid, mix it with dry mustard and turmeric, and return it to the kettle. Add the corn. (If you want the relish slightly thickened, blend the 2 tablespoons flour with ¼ cup cold water and add to the kettle when you put in the corn.) Boil for 5 minutes, stirring extra well if the relish has been thickened, so it won’t stick or scorch. Immediately fill clean hot pint jars within ½ inch of the top, adjust lids, and process in a Boiling–Water Bath (212 F/100 C) for 15 minutes. Complete seals if using bailed jars. You can use frozen whole-kernel corn that’s been thawed slowly: three 10-ounce packages will equal 4 cups of fresh kernels.

• Adjustment for my altitude _________________.

Indian Chutney

3 pints

The recipe for this fine Calcutta-style chutney was given us by Frances Bond, who lived twenty years in India before moving to Vermont, and she has tailored it for ingredients easy for the North American cook to come by. It’s ideal with budget-stretching curries or pilau, with hot or corn meats, and it makes a delightful present packed in decorative ½-pint canning jars.

For best results, the fruit—whether apples, peaches, or pears—should be firm varieties, or slightly underripe. The fruit, raisins, and crystallized ginger are added after the syrup ingredients have cooked together for 30 minutes, to let them keep their identity in the finished product: they should be tender but recognizable in the syrup, which is thick and a rich brown in color.

Caught without fresh fruit in a chutney-making mood, Mrs. Bond substituted 5½ cups of coarsely chopped canned, drained pears, but added them in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Results: heavenly.

Ground ginger contributes only flavor without texture, so don’t substitute. Minced, peeled fresh gingerroot is a logical substitute; ¼ cup should do.

The chutney improves after a couple of months in sealed jars.

Juice, pulp, and peel of 1 lemon, finely chopped

2 cups cider vinegar

2 cups packed dark brown sugar (1 pound)

1 clove garlic, minced

Pinch of cayenne pepper (⅛ teaspoon)

Pinch of chili powder (⅛ teaspoon)

1½ teaspoons salt

5½ cups coarsely chopped Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cored

(about 3 pounds), or peaches or pears

¾ cup crystallized ginger—cut small but not minced (about 3 ounces)

1½ cups raisins, preferably seeded (½ pound)

Chop the lemon, removing seeds and saving the juice (a food processor is good here), and put it in an open, heavy