Each person should judge his own actions and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. Galatians 6:4

Monday, July 28, 2008

Pictures... Pictures.. I have LOADS of pictures... but I didn't want to do a million randoms ones today.. so today.. you get a lesson in making Bread and Butter Pickles! My garden is pumping out so much food.. a bit faster than what we can eat and I don't want it to go to waste.. in ONE day I picked 6lbs of cukes! Sorry Larry Boy.... I love ya!! I really do... but I'm turning you into pickles!!

Here are a picture of a couple of my cucumbers!

Next.. I used this Pampered Chef Crinkle Cutter.. I borrowed this from a friend.. my thoughts... ?? I'm not rushing out anytime soon to buy one.. I felt it was to big.. and not quite sharp enough.. I had to keep pulling my pieces apart.. time consuming if you ask me.. if I found one at a yardsale for cheap.. I *might* think about it... but it's not on my NEEDED list.. that's for sure..

It makes your cucumbers look like this...

But in the end.. it really didn't matter... oh well.. live and learn!!
So after you cut these all up.. you need to grab these and cut them up...

After all the cukes and the onion and garlic is cut they are to be mixed up with salt ( recipe will follow!)

Here's the mix.. now you have to ice it for 3 hours.. and YES you can leave it on the counter...

Your Cast of spices....

You're going to add this to your sugar....

And then you're going to add your vinegar!

Oh.. ONLY if ONLY you could smell it at this point.. WOWZAS!! it's quite powerful!
After your boil.. you'll add your well drained cukes...

And cook a bit...
Once they are cooked you will start putting them in your canning jars ( remember the supplies for the strawberry Jam.. same supplies!!)

Before the water bath......

And after!!! See.. the crinkle cut mabob... ehhh.. waste of my time.. but hey.. it doesn't hurt to try.. right?? lol lol....

My final product!!


I add them to my jars for Christmas gifts!! that is if I can keep the kids and others out of them...

Bread and Butter Pickles
Recipe from the Book of "preserving the harvest" by Carol W. Costenbader

Boiling-water bath canner; seven 1-pint jars

6lbs of medium sized cucumbers, scrubbed and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 1/2 cups ( about 1lb) peeled and sliced small white onions
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup salt
Ice cubes
4 1/2 cups sugar
2 TBSP yellow mustard seeds
1 1/2 tsp celery seeds
1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
3 cups distilled white vinegar

1) In a large mixing bowl, combine the cucumbers, onions, and garlic. Add the salt and mix thoroughly. Cover with the ice cubes. Let stand for 3 hours

2) Rinse well, thoroughly drain the mixture, and remove the garlic cloves.

3) Combine the sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and turmeric; stir in the vinegar and heat to boiling in an 8-quart saucepan. Add the drained cucumber mixture and heat for 5 minutes.

4) Pour into sterilized jars, leaving 1.2 inch of headspace. Cap and seal.

5) Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water-bath canner.

18 comments:

Tanya said...

Oh yum! Actually, I never used to like bread and butter pickles until recently. I still can't eat a ton of them, but they are good. Yours look great! I'll bet you are taking a million pictures today! I know I would.

I miss Larry the Cucumber :( My boys used to watch Veggie Tales all the time when they were little. Makes me sad to think of it!

Unknown said...

by golly those look delicious! I wish I had a jar right now.

♥Lisa and The Pug Posse ♥ said...

where where where do you find your time?
Now I am craving pickles! I am on my way over..see you in 5 minutes!


I left you a little something on my blog.....

The Other Side of Me said...

These look so fantastic. I Love Pickles. Thanks for sharing the recipe and your cukes were gorgeous!!
Tammy

Kori said...

My Hubby loves some Bread and Butter pickles. I think I am going to make these for him. Are they ready to eat imediately after cooling or do you have to put them somewhere for a few days. I don't know much when it comes to pickle making. But if you could help that would be great. And roughly whats the shelf life?

Kori said...

Oh and if it's okay I would really like to add you to my Blog roll. Your wit and charm are something to be admired. Thanks for the tip.

Anonymous said...

Excellent....I might have to try these! My Grandma used to make pickles all the time....but I have no idea how she did hers. Ah...sweet memories!

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

Those cukes from the garden look FANTASTIC! I can't buy anything like that here.

Now, the b&b pickles...not my fav. But, I'm glad you are able to enjoy them.

Tam said...

OOO look at the pictures and YUMMY YUMMY pickles!!!!

Georgia4God said...

wow! those look really good. I so admire people who can, sew and grow things on their own. your cukes are BEAUTIFUL!! I love cucumbers.. and btw, when you decide to can dill flavored ones.. I'll let you send me a jar or few.. .hehe

oh, and did you use your new camera to take the pics? if so, it takes good ones so there's no need for buyers remorse! :o)

Tam said...

oo BTW Yeah I have that pampered chef tool...HMMM I tend to agree with you. It is less time to just slice them than use that fancy little tool.

Cris said...

Ah well. Poor Larry is always getting mistaken for a pickle anyways. LOL

Tam said...

Stalked over to SAY HI! HOPE all is going GREAT!

Linda said...

These look so delicious...my mouth is watering ..I can just taste them. B&B pickles so good with a tuna sandwich:).

Thank you for the sweet birthday wishes...I did have a happy day. Hugs, Linda

p.s. I love your header!

i_am_4given said...

AWESOME!!! You are making me hungry..hehe!! How long do they last??

Blessings,
Ronnie

Shana said...

Oh yummy! I love bread and butter pickles. I too have loads of cucumbers but I've never done the canning thing and am afraid to try, plus I have no storage. For now, my leftover cucumbers just go to friends and coworkers. (But, after this blog I'm seriously debating making these!)

Mimi said...

I think they are very pretty! I'm a dill pickle lover myself.

Tish said...

Yum! I love bread & butter pickles! And you made it look so simple. I might have to put out some pickling cukes with our fall planting. Here in the desert we're supposed to be able to do 2 plantings a year. We'll see how that goes - it's our first year here.