Oct 27, 2007 Posted in Preserving, Recipes

Crisp Pickle Slices

 

Mom’s (Peg Donaldson) bread & butter pickles

4 quarts sliced pickling cucumbers, medium sized
6 onions, sliced
2 bell peppers, sliced (I prefer red)
3 cloves garlic
1/3 c salt
5 c sugar
1 ½ t turmeric
1 ½ t celery seed
2 T mustard seed|
3 c cider vinegar

Wash and slice the cucumbers, onions, peppers and garlic cloves. I use a food processor with a slicing blade, reducing the labor considerably. Place them in a large kettle, layer with the salt and cracked ice. Let stand 3 hours, then drain.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a stock pot on the stove, add the pickles and heat, stirring occasionally, until the combinations just reach a boil. My mom’s handwritten notes say that 50 cucumbers makes 1 ½ batches, about 12 pint jars.

While the vegetables are brining, wash and sterilize the jars. Place them topside down on a clean kitchen towel. Put the two part canning lids in a saucepan of water and bring them to a boil just before you start cooking the pickles.

After the pickles come to a boil, using a ladle, transfer the pickles to the jars. Leave about ½ to 1 inch at the top of the jar. Wipe the rim of the jars with a clean wet cloth. Place the lids on the jars. Fill all the jars, then tighten the lids. This jarring operation needs to happen quickly while the mixture is very hot. In the next few hours as the jars sit  on the counter you will have the joy of hearing the lids pop inward sealing the jars.