Oh So Many Cucumbers! O_o

Good morning from the Cucumber family....errr....I mean England family O_o  We have always had a garden. We have always loved having a garden. In recent years our oldest daughter Rhiannon has slowly taken over that task. She has a passion for it and we have encouraged her in that endeavor. Even though we have 2.5 acres, my husband and I have built raised beds along an otherwise unusable slope on the side of our house. Each spring what begins as barely more than dirt filled landscape "steps" turns into a lush oasis heavy with the fruits of her labors.

This year has been plentiful indeed and we have enjoyed a steady stream of heirloom tomatoes, green beans, peppers and cucumbers....oh so many cucumbers!!!

  I am a huge cucumber fan. I like them in my salad....sliced and added to a sandwich..... tossed with sliced onions, mayo,vinegar and a smidge of sugar for my favorite cucumber salad....you get the picture.  But friends, we would have to eat cucumbers all day every day with no other food involved to keep up with Rhiannon's green thumb :) Unlike other vegetables, you simply can't freeze them so that leaves canning....or more to the point, pickling!! We had previously made dill pickles and several weeks later have finally opened the jars to discover that they are fantastic! This week, heavy laden with more lovely cukes, Rhiannon decided Bread and Butter pickles would be next.  These are hands down my favorite type of pickles and this recipe is DIVINE!  As usual the recipe will be large because we are a large family, but honestly, if you are overrun with cucumbers this is a perfect way to preserve and enjoy them the remainder of the year :)

Let's get started shall we :)

You will need

8 lbs of thinly sliced cucumbers
3 bell peppers (two yellow one green)
4 cups Apple Cider Vinegar
4 cups white vinegar
1 cup canning salt (also called pickling salt)
3 large onions thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic sliced or chopped
1/4 mustard seed
4 tsp celery seed
1 tblsp ground turmeric
7 quart jars

After rinsing your cucumbers thoroughly you will need to slice them fairly thin.  You can use a v slicer or mandolin for this task.

See the bandaid in the next picture?  Ask me how sharp the slicer is :(  Careful boys and girls!

I got my slicer on clearance at kroger for all of $5. You can spend a pretty penny on the lovely adjustable professional quality mandolins, and one day maybe I will take out a loan to do so, but honestly my little $5 find has served me quite well for several years.  New tools/toys are certainly alluring but you can be a great cook without selling a kidney. In fact most of my chef friends could make you the best meal you have ever had in your life armed with only a single knife and an open campfire.  Right then...... back to the recipe ;)

You will also want to slice up your garlic and seeded pepper. We used what we had on our garden (a combination of yellow and green peppers) but you can cater to your own tastes. I for one LOVE orange peppers and think they lend a beautiful flavor to the mix.

Once you have all of your items sliced you will want to place them in a large bowl and stir in the salt. Cover with crushed ice and stir again.  This mixture will stand (covered) for at a least 3 hours (overnight is fine if that works out better for you time wise, that's what we did)

After standing, rinse and drain three times to make sure you aren't leaving too much salt.  This ice bath leaves everything nice and crisp :)

You will want to go ahead and sterilize your jars and lids now. We sterilize the lids in a simmering pot for 15 minutes. Clean jars are sterilized in the oven at 225 degrees (f) for 20 minutes.

Now to make the liquid portion of our pickles.  Combine your sugar, vinegars and spices and bring to a low boil.

Portion out your rinsed and drained veggie/cucumber mix into your hot jars. Take care in handling the jars. Also be careful to put an equal amount of the peppers, onions and garlic in each jar. 

Stir your hot liquid mixture and ladle over your loosely packed cucumbers and veggies. The liquid should come to the bottom of the jars neck.

Clean the rims of your jars with a damp rag and place lid and ring on tightly. (again, careful, they're hot)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

On to our next kroger clearance bin find. A beginner canning kit AKA a plastic heat proof jar basket for use with the hot water bath. I paid a whopping $2.50 for it but even its regular price of $9.99 is quite reasonable. It keeps the jars raised just above the bottom of the pot. Previous to finding this green beauty we laid a towel on the bottom of the pot to avoid direct contact between the glass and the metal. Do yourself a favor and grab a basket ;)  This one holds three pint or two quart jars at a time.

Submerge and allow to boil for fifteen minutes.

Remove from boiling water and turn upside down on the counter (super hot peeps, use a potholder).  After another fifteen minutes turn right side up again. The button on the lid should be sucked in after a couple of minutes as the jars cool.  That my friends is it.  Now pickles are supposed to sit for 4 weeks before they are ready. And i'm sure they are wonderful after 4 weeks...but we waited a whopping 12 hours to taste the first one (we made a large half gallon jar just for the fridge). They are without question the BEST bread and butter pickles I have ever eaten!  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do. Have a blessed day !! :)