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melody · February 18, 2006

This recipe is a treasured heirloom...it is actually from the Carter Family of American Country Music fame. My husband and I travel a bit around the country as he plays guitar with folks at old timey festivals and such. We met up with an older gentleman several years ago named Sonny Rodgers. Sonny's dad and Jimmy Rodgers (father of modern country music) were cousins. It seems that Jimmy and the Carter Family toured together back in the olden days, and the Rodgers family was given the Carter Family Chow Chow Recipe. Sonny gave me a jar of it and the recipe one year, and I am eternally grateful.

Mother Maybelle Carter's Chow Chow

1 gallon green tomatoes(I used 1 gallon whole,before cutting)
1 head cabbage
3 sweet peppers
2 large onions
6 ears of corn(cut off cob)
6 large carrots
1/2 cup canning salt
3 cups packed brown sugar
3 Tblsp nutmeg
2 Tblsp horseradish
2 Tblsp mustard seed
1 Tblsp celery seed
1 quart vinegar

Chop and mix vegetables with salt.Let stand overnight.Drain well..
Mix sugar,seasonings and vinegar,Boil 1 minute.
Add vegetables,bring to boil.Boil 2 minutes.Stir to mix everything while cooking.
Take off heat and pack into jars and seal.

Now the recipe did not call for it,but I processed in boiling water bath for 7 minutes. Just good practice...and they did not think of such back then.

For a prettier presentation, I chopped and sliced the veggies in different ways, the jar I was given was pretty much ground up to about the same size pieces. I chopped the tomatoes, sliced the cabbage into shreds, left the carrots in rounds, sliced the onions into rings and the peppers into longer strips. It really looked nice in the jars that way.

February 18, 2006	#1
melody Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Kentucky Posts: 162	Salsa/Sauces This recipe is a treasured heirloom...it is actually from the Carter Family of American Country Music fame. My husband and I travel a bit around the country as he plays guitar with folks at old timey festivals and such. We met up with an older gentleman several years ago named Sonny Rodgers. Sonny's dad and Jimmy Rodgers (father of modern country music) were cousins. It seems that Jimmy and the Carter Family toured together back in the olden days, and the Rodgers family was given the Carter Family Chow Chow Recipe. Sonny gave me a jar of it and the recipe one year, and I am eternally grateful. Mother Maybelle Carter's Chow Chow 1 gallon green tomatoes(I used 1 gallon whole,before cutting) 1 head cabbage 3 sweet peppers 2 large onions 6 ears of corn(cut off cob) 6 large carrots 1/2 cup canning salt 3 cups packed brown sugar 3 Tblsp nutmeg 2 Tblsp horseradish 2 Tblsp mustard seed 1 Tblsp celery seed 1 quart vinegar Chop and mix vegetables with salt.Let stand overnight.Drain well.. Mix sugar,seasonings and vinegar,Boil 1 minute. Add vegetables,bring to boil.Boil 2 minutes.Stir to mix everything while cooking. Take off heat and pack into jars and seal. Now the recipe did not call for it,but I processed in boiling water bath for 7 minutes. Just good practice...and they did not think of such back then. For a prettier presentation, I chopped and sliced the veggies in different ways, the jar I was given was pretty much ground up to about the same size pieces. I chopped the tomatoes, sliced the cabbage into shreds, left the carrots in rounds, sliced the onions into rings and the peppers into longer strips. It really looked nice in the jars that way.