Let's get pickled!

My mother always used to make bread
and butter pickles with the cucumbers
from our garden when I was a kid.
To this day, the taste of bread and
butter pickles is the taste of my
childhood.

Needless to say, I was pickled...I
mean tickled when my friend Lynn
brought over a jar from a batch she
had made from cucumbers she'd bought
at our local farmer's market. They were delicious and she happily shared her recipe, which I checked against an old recipe card of my grandmother's (who taught my mom) and they are the same.

And so I share them with you! I am hoping to hit the farmer's market next week and if the cucumbers are still in, I think I'll do some pickling myself!

Bread and Butter Pickles
6 qts, sliced cucumbers
1 qt sliced onion
4 large sweet peppers, diced
1 cup pickling salt poured over mixture
(you can also use Kosher salt)
1 - 2 inches of ice on top of vegetables,
refrigerate for 4 hours

In a large pot, mix together:

6 cups white vinegar
6 cups sugar
1 tspn mustard seed
1 tspn celery seed
1 tbspn tumeric seed

Bring just to a boil.

Thoroughly rinse cucumbers, onions and peppers from ice and salt and add to the mixture on the stove, bring just to a boil again.

In another pot, boil 8 large canning jars and their lids to sterilize. Keep the jars hot while canning, take them out of the water only when ready to add pickle mixture. Once the sugar vinegar solution has come to a boil, use a slotted spoon to fill the hot jars with the cucumbers.

Pack the jars to an inch from the rim with the
vegetables. Then pour the hot pickling syrup
to a half inch from the rim. Wipe the rim clean.
Place a sterilized lid on the jar. Secure with a
metal screw band.

If you are planning to store pickles outside of the refrigerator, they will need a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Return filled jars to the same canning pot with its already hot water. Water level should be one inch above the top of the cans. Bring to a boil and let boil hard for 15 minutes. Remove jars from pot. Let cool down to room temperature. Jars should make a popping sound as their lids seal. If a lid doesn't seal properly, it must be stored in the refrigerator

Enjoy!

Jenn


Quite a pickle, isn't it?
Okay, I'll stop now...;-)