Bread & Butter Pickles

Not long ago, I shared my recipe for Zucchini Relish.  What goes with relish?  Pickles, of course.  What do pickles go with (and on)?  The most common foods eaten while camping, hamburgers and hot dogs and brats.

Early in my canning phase, I walked down to a neighbor's house and she was in the middle of canning pickles from her family recipe.  We had an abundance of cucumbers in the garden that year.  A day or so later, the neighbor dropped off copies of her family recipes and I found myself further into the world of home canning.

These are just as good as my neighbor told me.  Everyone who has tried them enjoys them.

What you need:

• 4 quarts sliced pickling cucumbers
• 6-8 medium onions, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/3 - 3/4 cup pickling salt (you can use regular salt, pickling salt is courser)
• crushed ice
• 5 cups sugar
• 3 cups cider vinegar
• 2 TBS mustard seed
• 1 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
• 1 1/2 tsp celery seed

What to do:

Combine sliced cucumbers, onions, garlic (speared on wooden toothpicks) and salt.  Cover with crushed ice and mix well.  Let cucumber mixture stand for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.  Drain well. Remove garlic.  Combine sugar, vinegar, mustard seed, tumeric and celery seed.  Pour over cucumber mixture.  Bring to a boil for about 7 minute.  Pack cucumbers and hot syrup into hot jars.  Use knife to remove any air bubbles.  Wipe jar rim with cloth to remove any debris.  Cover jars with hot lids and rings.  Process in hot water bath, 10 minutes for pint and 15 minutes for quart.  Pickles are ready to eat in about 2-3 weeks.  They will be good right away but it is worth waiting at least 2 weeks before eating.