I wasn't ready to put in a full fledged garden, however I wanted some beans, radishes, cucumbers and tomatoes.... so I decided to plant them along the fence... I had just recently had the fence put in, so the grass had not completely invaded the dirt up to the fence and I thought this would be a good place to plant... so prepared a little strip and planted 2 hills of cucumbers, about 8 beans, and then I decided to put my tomatoes and radishes in a huge pot... (rather than dig out grass) I thought I would never find enough dirt to fill that darn thing.... big job for me... So, got all that done and things started popping right away.... cucumbers up, beans up, radishes up, tomatoes blooming.... this was in June in Florida.... everything looked good for a couple weeks and then everything except one cucumber plant did a melt down... too hot.... and I think I had some bugs working on the beans... Having said that... my one hill of cucumbers just went gangbusters and produced way more cucumbers than I could eat, so I decided to make bread and butter pickles, and take pictures of the process to share with you all. They were so pretty I could not resist....
I have done a lot of canning in my day... and I learned that you do not have to have everything perfect.... i.e. In the past somewhere along the way I discovered after running out of canning jars when I still had more peach butter or something, can't remember, to can.... that the jars you buy other things in... the ones that have the lids with the rubber on the inside... will reseal...soooo, ..
Here are my designer jars
INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING PICKLES
See 2 recipes below for comparison... be creative...
1. Go online and find a recipe that suits you (that you have or can get ingredients for) I used the first recipe below, with variations, but have used others... all about the same... Please know, I am a creative cook... so I usually wind up mixing and matching recipes using spices I have on hand... you may use sliced onions or not ( I didn't this time)... this is a matter of choice... they make wonderful bread and butter pickles... even if your recipe doesn't call for them... just add extra brine to make up for the volume.
2. Sterilize jars - I just put a little clorox in the dishwasher and leave the heat cycle turned on... you can also put them in your oven and heat them up to (225) for 15 minutes to assure they are sterilized... this is also a handy place to store them out of the way while you have your counter tops busy with the rest of it...
3. Have all your ingredients available, i.e. vinegar (plenty), sugar, spices
Have a large cooking pot ready...size depending on how many cucumbers you have.... you can make several batches if you have a lot of cucumbers
4. Weigh cucumbers
8. TAKE A NAP!!
9. Make brine
11. Rinse cucumber slices thoroughly (while brine is heating)
12. Put cucumbers in hot brine following recipe (or not, depending upon which recipe you choose).. I tried just packing one jar and pouring hot brine over and storing in refrigerator... the one in the picture... pickles were very crisp and delicious
14. Wipe tops of jars clean with damp paper towel
15. Put lids tightly on jars
This first recipe below is the recipe I used; however the only spices I used were mustard seeds, celery seeds, and tumeric and I only used cucumbers, no onions... I included the second recipe, for you to compare.
Bread and Butter Pickles Recipe 1 (copied from Simply Recipes)
Start with the freshest pickling cucumbers you can find; your pickles are only going to be as good as the produce you start with. The fresher the cucumbers are, the crispier your pickles will be.
INGREDIENTS:
• 2 1/2 lbs pickling cucumbers (fresh from the market)
• 1 pound white or yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup pickling salt (can use Kosher salt as a substitute, regular table salt has additives in it that will turn the pickles dark and muddy the color of the pickle juice)
• 1 1/4 cup white distilled vinegar (5% acidity)
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar (5% acidity)
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 Tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 3/4 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 6 allspice berries plus a pinch of ground allspice
• 6 whole cloves plus a pinch of ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
If you are planning to store pickles outside of refrigerator, you will need the following canning equipment:
• 5 pint-sized canning jars, clean, unused lids, metal screw bands for the lids (see Canning jars and lids)
• 1 16-qt canning pot with rack Jar lifters or tongs
METHOD:
1. Carefully rinse the cucumbers, scrubbing away any dirt that may have stuck to the ribs. Slice off 1/8-inch from the ends and discard. Slice the cucumbers in 1/4-inch thick slices, place in a large bowl. Add the sliced onions and pickling salt. Stir in so that the salt is well distributed among the cucumber slices. Cover with a clean tea towel (thin towel, not terry cloth). Cover with a couple of inches of ice. Put in the refrigerator and let chill for 4 hours. Discard ice. Rinse the cucumber and onion slices thoroughly, drain. Rinse and drain again.
2. If you are planning to store your pickles outside of the refrigerator for any length of time, you will need to sterilize your jars before canning, and heat the filled jars in a hot water bath after canning. If you are planning to eat the pickles right away and store them the whole time in the refrigerator, you can skip the water bath step. It's still a good idea to sterilize the jars first, you can do that by running them through the dishwasher, or placing them in a 200°F oven for 10 minutes. To sterilize the jars for canning, place empty jars on a metal rack in a large, 16-qt canning pot. (Jars must rest on a rack in the pot, not on the bottom of the pot). Fill with warm water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to warm to keep the jars hot and ready for canning. Remove with tongs or jar lifters one by one as you can the cucumbers. Sterilize the lids by bringing a pot of water to a boil and pouring water over a bowl containing the lids.
3. In a 4 qt or 6 qt pot, place the vinegar, sugar, and all of the spices. Bring to a boil. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the sliced cucumbers and onions. Bring to a boil again. As soon as the sugar vinegar solution begins boiling again, use a slotted spoon to start packing the hot jars with the cucumbers. First pack a jar to an inch from the rim with the vegetables. Then pour hot vinegar sugar syrup over the vegetables to a half inch from the rim. Wipe the rim clean with a paper towel. Place a sterilized lid on the jar. Secure with a metal screw band.
4. If you are planning to store pickles outside of refrigerator, process the filled jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Return filled jars to the same canning pot with its already hot water. Water level needs to be at least one inch above the top of the cans. Bring to a boil and let boil hard for 15 minutes, or 20 minutes for altitiudes of 1001 to 6,000 feet. Over 6,000 feet, boil for 25 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 properly seal, do not store the jar outside of the refrigerator.
Makes about 5 pint jars.
Bread and Butter Pickles 2 (Recipe adapted from Recipe Girl)
INGREDIENTS:
• 5 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds) thinly sliced pickling cucumbers
• 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
• 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric
METHOD:
1. Combine cucumbers and salt in a large, shallow bowl; cover and chill 11/2 hours. Move cucumbers into a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water. Drain well, and return cucumbers to bowl. Add onion to the bowl and toss with the cucumbers.
2. Combine the granulated sugar, white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and ground turmeric in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.
Yield: About 4 cups of pickles
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