Ah, the relish tray! I do adore it. The physical tray I use is a 4-compartment one from a glass pattern called Candlewick, which was about 25 cents a piece when my mother bought it in the '40s and now sells for untold sums on Ebay. My mother used only canned black olives, green olives and her homemade bread and butter pickles. My grandmother included stuffed celery with a cream cheese and onion mixture, those red pickled apple slices and, my favorite, her homemade pickled peaches. Dill pickles were considered Nawthern in my North Carolina area. I make my own pickled okra for The Tray (try it, it is really good and would make someone look twice as a sub for an olive in a martini) and purchase at the farmers market bread-and-butters, pickled watermelon rind and whatever looks interesting. My great tragedy this year is my favorite market vendor had no pickled peaches, and I didn't have time to make my own this summer. Sob! Debbie Raleigh NC
