Amish Chow Chow Recipe

Before moving to Kentucky I had never heard of Chow Chow, but as I got to know all the local Amish and frequented their produce stands I noticed they all had Chow Chow for sale and it was selling! I had to know what the big deal was with this Chow Chow, so my Amish friend Katie gave me a jar to try. My husband was immediately hooked and begged me to make some. I believe I canned somewhere around 120 jars of it last year per his request.

So, without further ado, here is the recipe. Feel free to double, triple, or even quadruple the recipe for canning!

4 green tomatoes, chopped
6 cups sugar (I use WAY less than the recipe calls for - save this ingredient for last and sweeten to taste)
3 cups vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
1 cup water
2 teaspoons mustard powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 yellow or orange bell peppers, chopped
2 medium heads cabbage, shredded
4 cups chopped onions
2 hot peppers, chopped (optional, although I know @papapepper will add them)
Salt

Directions:
Now, the Amish directions say to soak the chopped green tomatoes in 1/2 cup salt for 3 hours. I tried this the first time and skipped it the second time and didn't notice any difference at all, so I have since omitted it. I will say that I did add some salt to the batches that I skipped the soaking of the green tomatoes.
Combine all ingredients in a large pot and cook together until HOT. Ladle in jars and seal in a water bath canner. The Amish didn't give me length of time to water bath can, but I processed pints for 20 minutes.

I like to use my food processor with the shredding blade to chop/shred all the ingredients, especially the cabbage.