Friday, September 2, 2011

I'm In A Pickle!

As a teenager leaving home for the first time, there are certain pieces of familiarity such as loved recipes one brings with them. This is one of many of my mother's recipes that I carried with me and made every year for the last thirty five years. Little did I know as I sat at the table writing out her recipes back in 1976, that my mother would be dead six months later. Her recipes are treasured and have been made repeatedly over the years. They have been passed on to my two girls who, though they never met their grandmother, know her through her recipes.

Mom's Bread and Butter Pickles
~in my 19 year old handwriting~


Before you start, sterilize your jars in a hot water bath.

Bring pickling mixture to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Add cucumbers and onions and bring to a boil.
Carefully pour into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe edges of jars and place on cap and lid and hand tighten.
Place filled jars in a canner and hot bath process for ten minutes. A lot of people do not do the hot bath process when making pickles. My mom never did this step when she made pickles, nor did I until a few years ago, but it is recommended.

One jar got short changed on the pickles...not to worry...even the extra pickle juice is saved and  used around here. It adds a tangy zest to coleslaw or cucumbers & cream and is the secret ingredient that makes my spaghetti sauce so good...there, the cat's out of the bag!

Happy pickling,
Marisa

1 comment:

  1. I love that you posted about making pickles...such great photos..and the title...my brother wrote a song with exactly that title..a maritimer of course..we all love our pickles )))

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV8MT1e4C8A

    Okay...I really need to make some pickles!! Thank you for the urge )))

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