Fire and Ice Tomatoes

Growing up and cooking for my family, I loved to try different recipes. This is one of those recipes that my mother really enjoyed eating, every time I made it. 

My mother always had a garden. So I would go out and pick fresh tomatoes, peppers, and onions from her garden to make Fire and Ice Tomatoes. Although you don't have to use garden fresh vegetables to make this, they do give the dish a much better flavor. 

Ingredients

1 to 2 onions, sliced and separated into rings
5 tomatoes, diced into bite-sized pieces
1 sweet pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
3/4 c. white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. celery seed
1 1/2 tsp. mustard seed
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 c. water
2 Tbs. sugar
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. red pepper or cayenne pepper (optional)
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Directions

Place the onions, tomatoes and sweet pepper in a heat-safe bowl.

In a saucepan, combine white vinegar, celery seed, mustard seed, salt, water, sugar, red pepper or cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring only until sugar dissolves. Boil for 1 minute.

Pour the hot marinade over the onions, tomatoes and sweet peppers. Cover the dish and place in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

This keeps for several days in the refrigerator.