Meals and Memories

My mother, the late Journalist Dorothy Sargent Boudreau, loved family memories and cooking. She combined meals and memories after her retirement several decades ago into a regular column for the Lawrence Eagle Tribune. 

Never do I cook one of my mother's dishes when memories of my mother, grandmother and brother J. (also deceased) sitting around the table .

Especially now when there is a surplus of zucchini. I bet everyone has a story when they politely thanked friends for zucchini while thinking, "what am I going to do with all of them."

Periodically, I will publish one of her recipes on Substack. Here's the first. In this article she combined an interview with zucchini pickles.

Here it is

Back in my newspaper days I was assigned to do a feature story on Ann Morgan of Gray and Cole Nursery,Inc., and before we got through the interview the talk had turned to cooking.   

Naturally!   

Ann is an accomplished hand a growing, freezing, canning and cooking. When she mentioned “zucchini pickles” I was intrigued for that was the year of our last garden and we were overrun with the ubiquitous zucchini.   

Ann very graciously wrote out the recipe for us and it was a top favorite then and now.

• 3 quarts thinly sliced, unpeeled zucchini squash, (If you want to use up your larger zucchini, slice thinly and halve or quarter, dependent on size).
• 2 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced    
• 1 tsp. celery seed
• 2 tsps. mustard seed
• 1/4 cup pickling salts
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
• 2 cups vinegar                                             
• 1/2 tsp. dry mustard 
• 2 cups sugar

Combine zucchini and onions. 

Sprinkle with salt, cover with cold water and let stand two hours.   

Drain, rinse with fresh water, drain again.  

Combine remaining ingredients in enamel or stainless steel kettle and bring to boil. Cook two minutes.   

Add zucchini and onions, remove from heat and let stand two hours.  

Bring again to boil and cook five minutes.   

Ladle hot into hot sterilized pint jars and process in boiling water bath for five minutes to ensure a seal.   

Makes about four pints.   

You’ll be asked for this recipe! 

Betcha!