Bread & Butter Pickles

My grandmother used to make the best bread and butter pickles ever….straight from her garden to the table. I used to eat so many of these as a kid. My mother is now the canner in the family. I can occasionally produce from my garden, but working full-time makes it a little hard. Plus, my mother cans enough for our entire family, so I still get quite a few canned items from her.

If you want to make canned pickles here is an excellent recipe to start you off:

Bread and Butter Pickles
4 quarts pickling cucumbers
1 1/2 cups onions, sliced
2 large garlic cloves
1/3 cup pickling salt
2 quarts chopped ice
4 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 1/2 tsp. celery seed
2 T. mustard seed
3 cups white vinegar

In large bowl, add sliced cucumbers and onions, garlic cloves and pickling salt; mix well. Cover with chopped ice, place towel over, and let stand 3 hours. Prepare brine by combining sugar, turmeric, celery seed, mustard seed and vinegar in large pot; bring to a boil.

Drain water and ice from cucumber slices and remove garlic cloves.

Add cucumbers to brine; simmer 5 minutes. Pack in sterile jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Seal. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Allow to stand two weeks before opening.