Ripe Tomato Relish (Old Southern Chili Sauce)

My mother, Mabel Graves Knolton passed the recipe onto me, and she got it from her mother, Maggie Duncan Knolton. It’s one of our family favorites. Mary Alice Moore, Jackson TN
18 large tomatoes, peel, core, and cut up

5 onions, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons salt (I use pickling salt, but the other is fine)

2-1/2 cups white vinegar

2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon each - ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger

Mix all ingredients in a heavy pan and cook for 2 hours or more, until thick. Stir often, and don’t allow to stick. I cut my vegetables up in a food processor. Put into hot jars and seal. Serve with peas, beans, greens, or other vegetables. This is a very old Southern recipe.

My friend, Mary Alice shared this treasured recipe with me, and believe you me, she comes from a long line of good cooks. For a number of years, Mary Alice owned the M&M One Stop Cafe where she served up the best breakfast and lunch in town. Her desserts were off the charts. When the chef from the Ritz in Paris visited with me in Jackson, I took him to the M&M for supper - he learved how to fry catfish; acquired a taste for sweet tea, and ate his weight in chess pie. He even took the recipe back to the Ritz. Chef Guy the prepared the dinner for Princess Diana the night of her tragic accident. Mary Alice and her husband, Robert, have been married for 53 years and now she's retired from the cafe, but she never forgot how to cook. The Moores are precious people and I'm blessed to be among their friends.