We were the recipient of 5 kilos of tomatoes, t’other day..they looked great, what’s more. None of these blemishes, funny dimples, strange colours or anything like that for us! Price was heaps less than shops anywhere..aaand they came in a woolies paper bag.

So, she who shall be obeyed reckoned that the Billisaurus was going to make tomato relish, and told everyone before telling moi. Um. So, into the breech we went. First..find a suitable recipe. Lots out there. I settled for one from the UK..and was one of the few that didn’t have

A huge list of ingredients

Strange spices

Two of three day production, includes steeping overnight.

A familiar looking recipe caught my eye, and away I went.

Did involve a trip to the local..IGA, being close handy, albeit a tricky car park, blind corners, and getting past heaps of chocolate what-nots..it being Easter and all that. Always a bit of a battle, that.

Apples of the cooking variety..Granny Smiths would suffice I thought. Seeing as our possums are fed a diet of apples and pears, I am always on the lookout for el cheapo fruit for the ravenous little sods.

Sticking point was..nooo recipe wanted 5 kilos of tomatoes, did they. Not even the equivalent in ..lbs, pounds or ounces. 1.4 kilo was the closest..bit strange I thought, must have been converted from..an imperial measure of one sort or another. Well, 1.4 was fairly close to 1.5. Three x one point fives equals 4.5 kg, ..close enough to five, hey. So, everything was multiplied by three. Easy squeezy! We had an huge pot I thought would do the trick in holding it all. Well…almost! The aforesaid honeybun cored and peeled and chopped said apples for me…thanks kiddo! Aaand fed the pesky possums with the…not offcuts, but remains of the apple bits left over. Oh, and cut up a bag of onions as well.

Naow, there was a few bits of apple..well, ok, a lot of bits of apple peeking out over the rim of aforesaid huge saucepan. So, another saucepan was hereby pressganged into service, and did the job remarkably well.

Now, some of you no doubt are wondering about the Granny Smiths in the recipe.. surely, tomato relish ..doesn’t..warrant Granny Smiths.  And that is correct! It doesn’t. Unless…ta da..we actually had a chutney recipe instead. Which we did. Sigh.  And a kilo of raisins as well. Lots of malt vinegar…and no water. ?? Weird,..but no water.

Was a bit on the tangy side, but dashed nice chutney, when all said and done.

Aaand thanks to the Honeybun for the photos!