My youngest son's garden is producing a little bit later than last year, due to the cooler summer, I suppose. At any rate, the cucumbers are coming on like gangbusters now. He brought me a couple of jars of dill pickles this past weekend. When I talked with him this evening, he said he needed a good recipe for Bread & Butter pickles. He likes trying new recipes.
Years ago I made some good sweet pickles. I wish I still had the recipe. I scoured my recipe file and my parent's old recipe box to no avail. However, I found this recipe that if it isn't the same, it is really close. It came from one of those old church Ladies Aid cookbooks. Those church ladies really know how to cook. So here you go, David.
Bread & Butter Pickles
4 pounds cucumbers, sliced thin
8 small onions, sliced thin
1/2 cup canning salt
5 cups sugar
4 cups white vinegar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons celery seed
1-1/2 teaspoons ground turmeric
(If you're feeling adventuresome, you can add 1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves.)
In a large container, combine the cucumbers, onions and salt. Cover with crushed ice and mix well. Let stand for 3 hours. Drain; rinse and drain again.
In a Dutch oven, combine the sugar, vinegar and seasonings; bring to a boil. Add cucumber mixture; return to a boil. Remove from the heat.
Carefully ladle hot mixture into hot pint jars, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles, wipe rims and adjust lids. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: 7 pints.
Let them sit on the shelf for three or four weeks before opening a jar. And, by the way, son...
I'll be more than happy to taste test those pickles to make sure they are good enough for your family. Just sayin'.....
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I like Garlic dill pickles. I know I ate some bread and butter pickles once but I can't remember anything about them.
ReplyDeleteI like cucumber cut up raw, really cold, with garlic salt, that's good too.
Harry...The bread & butter pickles are just a sweet pickle. I like them. Youngest Son wanted to try something different with his garden cucumbers this year, hence the recipe. He makes really good dills and he said he tried garlic dills, but put too much garlic in each jar. Said they were pretty potent!
ReplyDeleteI've never tried cukes with garlic salt, but it sounds good. My mother would slice cukes and onions and soak them in vinegar with just a little bit of sugar. They were good, too.
I love B&B pickles. My Dad made pickles once, too much garlic for my taste, his brother is now canning pickles. Had some at Christmas not bad. My Grandma had a recipe where she cut up dill pickles added sugar and served in a couple of days. I think it was a quick B&B short cut. Now I can't find the recipe.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mom. This will be my next batch. At the rate my cucumbers are growing, that will be tonight! I pick them about every 2-3 days as they are growing that quickly.
ReplyDeleteDavid
Rob...I wish I had taken better care of my old recipes. I don't make my own pickles any more due to lack of a garden, but I would have liked to pass them on to those who would use them. I used to have a recipe that we called Venison Relish because it was so good with venison. Was made from cucumbers, carrots and onions, I think. Maybe I will find a similar recipe one of these days!
ReplyDeleteDavid...You are welcome. I hope this recipe works for you. You don't have to ice the cukes for three hours - an hour or so is enough. You know, of course, that I will have to taste them to make sure they are like the ones I made when we lived near Puposky!
ReplyDeleteLove, Mom
I don't have a nice place for all of my recipes either. My recipe book looks like a copy machine keeper...all kinds of papers everywhere.
ReplyDeleteMary...I've got a couple of recipe file boxes, an assortment of cookbooks, snippets of recipes here and there, etc. If I were a truly organized person, I would have them all neatly filed in one place. Maybe in my next lifetime.....
ReplyDelete