Sweet & Spicy Pepper Relish or Chow Chow

15 green or red tomatoes chopped
12 green bell peppers chopped (I used shishito & carmen peppers I grew)
6 red bell peppers chopped
1/2 cup pickling salt or kosher, not iodized
4 cups of chopped yellow onions
1 small head of cabbage chopped
4 stalks of celery chopped
6 cups sugar
4 cups apple cider vinegar
1 tbs celery seed
2 tbs turmeric
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tbs ground mustard or mustard seed
1 tbs allspice
1 tbs cloves
6 hot peppers seeded & chopped (I used garden salsa peppers I grew)
2 packets of pectin stirred in at the end and cooked till thickened

Chop tomatoes and peppers and place in colander over a pot and sprinkle with salt and let drain in refrigerator overnight. (Note I substituted my shishito and carmen peppers for the green bell peppers and I used mostly red and yellow tomatoes). I got a scant half cup of liquid from this mixture and don't see the point, I'd skip this step next time.

Next day take the tomato and peppers out of refrigerator and let get to room temperature. Meanwhile place sugar, salt and apple cider vinegar in a very large non reactive pot. (You can see my large pot below is tull to within one inch of the top). Bring mixture to boil and boil for 3 minutes till it becomes clear and sugar and salt are dissolved.

While mixture is boiling, chop the cabbage and onions. Also chop the hot peppers. I used surgical gloves to chop the peppers to avoid the dreaded burn to hands and other inadvertent locations.

Turn heat down and add spices, next add chopped cabbage, onions, and hot peppers. Then add the tomato and peppers which drained overnight. Stir well and bring to a boil again, turn down and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. If mixture is too thin, which mine was, add two packets of fruit pectin and cook till mixture begins to thicken. Makes 12 pints.