As many of you know after a person starts canning, family members come forth with requests. My brother has asked for watermelon rind preserves, I think I can manage that. My son has requested salsa with mangos or pineapple. Apparently Newman's Own makes it and he raves about it. Anyone make these types of salsa?

I've just gotten into canning the last couple of years, and in my pickle making frenzy I had several requests for Bread and Butter Pickles. I hadn't planned on making them, as I never cared much for them, but since I had lots of cukes, I figured I'd make them for gifts. Found a well reviewed recipe, and made 6 pints. After getting great feedback, I tried a jar, and LOVED them! Realized I just hadn't liked what my mother had made.

Have you tried Watermelon rind pickles? I tried some a friend made last summer, and they were surprisingly good. Very sweet and cinnamon-y, each jar had a cinnamon stick. She had left a tiny bit of pink along each piece of rind, and the brine was very clear, so the pink made them really attractive in the jar.

I haven't tried my hand at canning salsa yet. I wonder how the pineapple and mango will effect the acidity? They often call for added lemon juice or citric acid for tomatoes anyway, so that would fix any concerns there.

gemini_sage said:Have you tried Watermelon rind pickles? I tried some a friend made last summer, and they were surprisingly good. Very sweet and cinnamon-y, each jar had a cinnamon stick. She had left a tiny bit of pink along each piece of rind, and the brine was very clear, so the pink made them really attractive in the jar.

Hi Neal, I'm growing Schochler Watermelons this year and they are supposed to make excellent watermelon pickles. I would really appreciate it if your could get your friend's recipe and either post it here or PM me.

Also I plan to offer Schochler seeds this year and would like to include the pickle recipe in the seed offer if they don't mind (with credit of course). Claud

Neal yes I have tried watermelon pickles. My grandmother made them and I can remember how sweet they tasted all these yrs later. Very good.
This last summer I made pickles for the first time. I didn't want to go through all the hoopla of skimming brine, and all those steps to making them so I used a Mrs. Wages packet and made the dill pickles. I made B&B pickles from ingredients I had in the kitchen, amazingly I had all the spices I needed. I'm not much on the B&Bs but I love the dills. I was so sick of cukes after this little venture of mine lol!
I have found a few recipes for the salsas with fruit, they are scarce. I can't remember much about them now, I'll look them up again when is closer to time to make them.

Claud, I never got the recipe from her (she's a friend of a friend, so I don't know if she ever heard my recipe request). I did some looking at various recipes on line, and most called for cloves or other spices, which was the main difference from what I tried. I have a feeling she had played around with the recipe, but found this one I think would be very close with a bit of tweaking:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/rec...

I believe using a cinnamon stick in each jar instead of cloves, and using white vinegar instead of cider would be much like what I tasted.

I never did like Watermelon rind pickles, I also don't like Slippery Jims, that are much like them only made with ripe yellow cucumbers.

Thanks Neal, I printed the recipe out and noted the changes. I have a friend who is allergic to cinnamon so I'm also going to try substituting whole allspice for the cloves in a batch for her. I think I'll try some spears instead of cubes as well. We have a watermelon carnival here each year the first Saturday in August so maybe I'll have another item to sell at the Farmer's Market that weekend. Claud