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

NOT TONIGHT DEAR

I overextended myself today. Up at the crack of dawn I had my cucumbers picked and almost all sliced for two batches of pickles, when my daycare kiddies started to arrive at 7:30...right on time as they always seem to whenever I need a little extra time to finish something I start. Murphy's Law. ..if I wasn't doing anything they would be late.

So with three two year old kids underfoot, I quickly finished slicing cucumbers and onions while keeping them occupied by doling out cucumber slices for them to eat. Their fascination with what I was throwing into the compost bucket also kept them busy for a while, then back downstairs for a morning snack and playtime.

Finally, nap time and I was able to get the Bread and Butter pickles cooked, bottled and processed before I had to wake them. The Sweet Mustard Pickles were done tonight and I'm pickled out!

So if hubby has any plans tonight,

I won't be long telling him,

"Not tonight dear,
I've had enough pickle for one day."