Sunflower Wreaths


 The Blog Tech and his wife have been working so hard on their new house.  They have a contractor doing a lot of the work but the two of them have been demolishing parts of the place and doing lots of sanding. I have to hand it to my DIL for motivating The Blog Tech to do all of this; I could never get him to make his bed. Yesterday I made them wreaths for their front doors.

 The house is an old Victorian and has double glass entry doors which lead to the main front door.

 So, I had to make matching wreaths to go on each door panel.  My DIL loves sunflowers so that is what I used.  Making matching wreaths that will be hung close together was more challenging than I thought. But close enough I guess.

I made more pickles.  I love to have homemade pickles on hand at all times.  I often whip up last minute meat and cheese platters for guests and fresh homemade pickles always make the platters better.





Here is the recipe I used for this batch.  Click to enlarge.

 And this is new for me and now I am wondering why it took me so long to make this....chow chow.  The pups got a bit nervous when I said I was going to cook chow chow.  I reassured them it was just the relish from which they were named. When Chow Chow dogs were shipped to England from China, they were listed in the boats logs as chow chow.  Chow chow was pidgin English for 'this and that'.

 I think a long time ago I tried Pennsylvania Dutch chow chow and didn't like it because it tasted like a very sweet relish.  This is a whole different thing. My god this is good stuff.

 You can use this on all kinds of things. In West Virginia, it is always served to eat with the beans I posted recently.  I can't wait to make the beans again so I can serve this with them.

 I only made 4 jars this time because I wasn't sure how much I would like it. I will be making big batches soon.  It's a great way to use up end of season peppers and green tomatoes from your garden.




It will be on my Thanksgiving table this year too.

Here is the recipe.  I like to have an assortment of things I've canned to send home with house guests too. I think it is nice to give people jars of something you have served them so they can take it home and enjoy it again.

Comments

Guillaume said…
For me, sunflowers represent the ending of summertime and the beginning of autumn. And creepy scarecrows.
Beautiful wreaths on beautiful doors - and I love pickles... did not like the last batch recipe I made.. will try yours!

Leanna said…
The wreaths are absolutely awesome! I can't wait until I'm able to get around again. I plan on tearing up this house and getting it ready for autumn. The dill pickles and chow chow look sooooo good!
Anonymous said…
yup, that looks like the relish we made,, the same thing,, your wreaths look amazing!
Kay said…
That looks so beautiful and the pickles sound amazing!
Linda said…
The wreaths are beautiful. I love chow chow. The last time I ate it over 30 years ago, my face swelled like a balloon, so I had to give up one of my favorite things to eat. Chow chow is great om blackeyed peas.
Oh, I forgot all about chow chow -- used to eat it as a kid. Thanks for the memories!
Julie Ferguson said…
I love the idea of making a wreath from sunflowers. It looks like fall, my favorite time of year.
The wreaths are beautiful. I have never had chow chow. I will have to give that recipe a look over.
chickpea678 said…
You are so thoughtful ❤️
1st Man said…
I am totally going to have to make some of both of these. Since our garden is done, I'll just head tot he farmers market and pick up some veggies. Looks like a good rainy weekend project sometime. Thank you! Oh and the weathers are beautiful. They look wonderful on those doors.
Unknown said…
I'm not sure if it is just my eyes, but I cannot see the pickle recipe well. Is that 1/2 a gallon of water? I have more cucumbers in my garden than I can eat or give away and pickles seem like just the thing.
jaz@octoberfarm said…
it is 1/2 gallon of water!
TARYTERRE said…
what an interesting story about about the chow chow. those are beautiful wreaths.