My mother made these every summer and they were our 'sweet pickle' pickles:
14 Day Pickles
Brine: 9 parts water to 1 part salt
Put cucumbers in brine solution; let stand 3 days
Take out of solution; rinse cucumbers and put in clear water and let stand 3 days.
Slice cucumbers
Prepare solution:
2 quarts water
1 quart vinegar
1 tsp. powdered alum for each quart of cut up cucumbers
(make enough liquid solution to cover the cucumbers)
Let cucumbers stand in solution for 3 days (longer will not hurt; makes even crisper)
Prepare pickling solution:
1 pint vinegar
4 cups sugar
1 tsp. pickling spice (tied in a cloth bag)
Bring to a boil and let boil 10 minutes, slow and easy, to make a thick syrup. Put sliced cucumbers in hot syrup and bring to boiling point, BUT NOT QUITE TO A BOIL. Let cool and do this step again every other day for 3 more boils. When completing the boiling procedure for the third time, fill jars and seal.
Hot water bath the filled jars. Boil for 5 minutes.
Note: for 9 quarts of cucumbers, multiply the last solution by 3.
This is my grandmother's recipe. My mother made them every summer. She had a crock that she used just for these pickles. She had a plate that would fit in the crock and she'd weight it down with a clean rock to keep the cucumbers covered by the solutions.
Yes it's a lot of work but this makes the best sweet pickles I've ever tasted. My wife and I had a "pickle-off" one summer where she made lime sweet pickles and I made these. Hers were good but she said I won.....
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Bread and Butter pickles
1 gallon cucumbers, sliced
8 onions, sliced
2 pods sweet pepper
1/2 cup salt
Mix, cover with ice and let stand 3 hours. Drain.
Prepare pickling solution:
5 cups vinegar
5 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. celery seed
Bring to a boil and seal.
In later years, Mama started adding sliced carrots and cauliflower to the cucumbers, onions and peppers. But the pickling solution was the same.
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Sweet Pickled Peaches (or crab apples)
6 lbs. whole peaches (mountain peaches are smaller but Sand Hills peaches work just fine!)
3 lbs. sugar
1 pt. vinegar (apple cider)
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. mixed pickling spice (tied in a cloth bag)
Boil vinegar, water, sugar and pickling spice for 5 minutes.
Place peaches in syrup and cook until tender.
Can, packing the the peaches in the jars as tight as you can
without damaging them. Pour boiling syrup over peaches.
My mother made these every summer and we had them for special dinners (birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas) the rest of the year. If they are done right, the peaches will come off the 'stones' when you eat them without any problem.
14 Day Pickles
Brine: 9 parts water to 1 part salt
Put cucumbers in brine solution; let stand 3 days
Take out of solution; rinse cucumbers and put in clear water and let stand 3 days.
Slice cucumbers
Prepare solution:
2 quarts water
1 quart vinegar
1 tsp. powdered alum for each quart of cut up cucumbers
(make enough liquid solution to cover the cucumbers)
Let cucumbers stand in solution for 3 days (longer will not hurt; makes even crisper)
Prepare pickling solution:
1 pint vinegar
4 cups sugar
1 tsp. pickling spice (tied in a cloth bag)
Bring to a boil and let boil 10 minutes, slow and easy, to make a thick syrup. Put sliced cucumbers in hot syrup and bring to boiling point, BUT NOT QUITE TO A BOIL. Let cool and do this step again every other day for 3 more boils. When completing the boiling procedure for the third time, fill jars and seal.
Hot water bath the filled jars. Boil for 5 minutes.
Note: for 9 quarts of cucumbers, multiply the last solution by 3.
This is my grandmother's recipe. My mother made them every summer. She had a crock that she used just for these pickles. She had a plate that would fit in the crock and she'd weight it down with a clean rock to keep the cucumbers covered by the solutions.
Yes it's a lot of work but this makes the best sweet pickles I've ever tasted. My wife and I had a "pickle-off" one summer where she made lime sweet pickles and I made these. Hers were good but she said I won.....
***************************
Bread and Butter pickles
1 gallon cucumbers, sliced
8 onions, sliced
2 pods sweet pepper
1/2 cup salt
Mix, cover with ice and let stand 3 hours. Drain.
Prepare pickling solution:
5 cups vinegar
5 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. celery seed
Bring to a boil and seal.
In later years, Mama started adding sliced carrots and cauliflower to the cucumbers, onions and peppers. But the pickling solution was the same.
*********************
Sweet Pickled Peaches (or crab apples)
6 lbs. whole peaches (mountain peaches are smaller but Sand Hills peaches work just fine!)
3 lbs. sugar
1 pt. vinegar (apple cider)
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. mixed pickling spice (tied in a cloth bag)
Boil vinegar, water, sugar and pickling spice for 5 minutes.
Place peaches in syrup and cook until tender.
Can, packing the the peaches in the jars as tight as you can
without damaging them. Pour boiling syrup over peaches.
My mother made these every summer and we had them for special dinners (birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas) the rest of the year. If they are done right, the peaches will come off the 'stones' when you eat them without any problem.
