24 hour Pickled Celery (or Celery Relish)

Okay, you know the drill... it's summer. You bought a bunch of celery to add some to your tuna salad, or your toss salad, or your pasta salad to give it some crunch, and now you have all this left over celery. It's summer! You're not into soups or stews, what to do with the rest of the celery? Here's my solution tonight. ~ Lynne

Note: The only difference between pickled celery and celery relish in this recipe is how you cut up the celery.



INGREDIENTS (per Pint)
4 large celery stalks
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon dill seeds
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
1/4 teaspoon clove (whole, not powdered!)
1/4 teaspoon salt (pickling or sea salt is best, but table salt is okay if that's all you have)
3 tablespoons white vinegar

DIRECTIONS

1) Cut the celery into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal or dice into small relish size pieces and put cut celery in a 1 pint jar.
2) Bring the rest of the ingredients to a boil over high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved.
3) Remove mixture from heat and pour into celery filled pint jar.
4) Let cool until cool enough to handle without pot holders, cap jar, shake to distribute the seasonings. Open the jar and press the celery down into the mixture so that it is all covered.
5) Recap the jar, and refrigerate for 24 hours.

This should keep for up to 2 weeks (if it lasts that long!)

...oops! I forgot to mention that if you find after capping and refrigerating the celery that it floats on top of the liquid, that's fine, that's just what canned goods do. But you're safe whether it floats or not, and if it is floating, it will only float until you open the jar again.