Bread and Butter Pickles

We had a lot of cucumbers from the garden this week so I decided to make some yummy bread and butter pickles.

8-10 cucumbers (10 cups sliced)
4 medium onions
1 red bell pepper
1/2 cup pickling salt
2 cups sugar (I use 1 cup sugar and 1 cup stevia)
4 cups vinegar (5%)
1 tbsp mustard seed
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp celery seed
pickle crisp (optional)

Yield is 6 pints (I used 3 pints and 6 half pints so I could give some as gifts)

Wash and slice cucumbers, bell pepper, and onions (slice onions thin). Cover in water, add pickling salt and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

Rinse thoroughly and drain. Heat vinegar, sugar, and spices to boiling, add vegetables and bring back to a boil. Loosely pack hot vegetables into hot, sanitized jars. Add pickle crisp if you want crisp pickles (sold in the canning section). Pour boiling brine mixture into jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Wipe rim and seal. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 min. Leave for 4-6 weeks for pickling. Chill before serving for best flavor.

Sweet Banana Pepper Rings

Our banana peppers are going strong so I made some pickled banana pepper rings.

14 Banana Peppers
1 medium heat salsa pepper
2 cups vinegar (5%)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. mustard seed

Yield 2 half pints

Wash and slice peppers and remove seeds. Heat vinegar, sugar, and spices to a boil. Loosely pack peppers into hot, sanitized jars. Pour boiling brine over peppers leaving 1/2 inch head space. Wipe rim and seal. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Leave for 2 weeks before eating for pickling.

Variation: You can make these "Sweet and Spicy" by adding a cayenne pepper or jalapeno to the jar.

Hamburger Dill Pickles

I bought a wavy knife just to cut wavy pickles. Yep.

10-15 cucumbers sliced
1/2 cup pickling salt for soaking
6 tablespoons pickling salt for brine
4.5 cups water
4 cups vinegar
mustard seed
dill seed
black peppercorns

Slice cucumbers and soak in water and 1/2 cup pickling salt at room temp for 2 hours. Rinse cucumbers thoroughly. Heat water, vinegar, and salt to boiling. Pack cucumbers into hot, sanitized jars. Add 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed, 1.5 teaspoons dill seed, and 2 peppercorns to each pint. Pour boiling brine mixture over cucumbers. Remove air bubbles and adjust head space to 1/2 inch. Seal jars and process in boiling water bath canner for 15 minutes. Allow 2 weeks for spices to infuse pickles before eating.

Old South Cucumber Lime Pickles

Sweet Pickles

10-15 cucumbers sliced into spears
1 cup pickling lime
2 gallons water
8 cups distilled white vinegar, 5% acidity
8 cups sugar
1 tablespoon salt (optional)
1 teaspoon mustard seed

1 teaspoon celery seed

1. Soak clean cucumbers in water and lime mixture in crockery or enamel ware for 2 hours or overnight.  Do not use aluminum ware.
2. Remove sliced cucumbers from lime water.  Discard lime water.  Rinse 3 times in fresh cold water.  Soak 3 hours in fresh ice water.
3. Combine vinegar, sugar, salt and mixed pickling spices in a large pot.  Bring to a low boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.  Remove syrup from heat and add sliced cucumbers.  Soak 5-6 hours or overnight.
4. Boil slices in the syrup 35 minutes.  Fill sterilized jars with hot slices.  Pour hot syrup over the slices, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Cap each jar when filled.
5. Process pints 10 minutes, quarts 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.
6. Test jars for airtight seals.
7. Ready to eat in 24 hours. Best if chilled before serving.

This makes 7 pints.

These pickles are really sweet. Honestly, when I first tried them I didn't like them at all. I thought they were way too sweet. I put them in egg salad b/c they were the only pickles that were ready and I was shocked at how delicious they made the egg salad. I have also added them to tuna salad and they are so good! I would make them again, but just for salads.

Sweet and Snappy Zucchini Relish

Where has this been all my life?? When I came across this recipe while searching something along the lines of "What the heck should I do with all this zucchini", I thought hey, that sounds like a weird thing to give someone. So, I made it, canned it, tried it, and immediately asked myself how I had gone so many years without this delicious relish. It has a peppery, oniony, sweet, and tangy flavor that is so yummy!

8 cups zucchini, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
1 sweet red pepper, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1.5 cups sugar
1.5 cups cider vinegar
1.5 teaspoon dry mustard
1.5 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1 teaspoon tumeric
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Yield: about 9 half pints

Combine zucchini, onion, and pepper in large nonreactive bowl and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons pickling salt. Mix well and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours. Drain through a sieve, pressing out excess water. Combine drained veggies, sugar, vinegar, mustard, celery seed, pepper flakes, and tumeric in a large pan. Boil for 15 minutes. Blend cornstarch and water, then add to the relish. Cook an additional 5 minutes. Ladle into hot jars, wipe rim, and seal. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

I will make this year after year. I admit that I ate a ton of this, just scooping it on crackers. It is very low calorie though (~11 calories/tablespoon), so enjoy!