Bread & Butter Pickles

Trying to put all my pickle recipes on the blog so that I don’t have to search so hard next year. What do I do with all the cucumbers my husband grew? 

Use the top recipe. It’s from Oded Schwartz’s book Preserving (1996, Dorling Kindersley).

Here’s my start . . . I’ve blanched the whole cucumbers, refreshed them, sliced and added onions and mini sweet-peppers and salt. Then it sits overnight.

After draining and rinsing (I did the ten minutes in cold water) I boiled the brine for ten minutes and then added the chopped vegetables.

I brought the pot to a second boil.

Then ladled into sterile jars and sealed with canning lids. It made 5 pints. Really looked like a lot, but 5 pints is what I ended up with. I am going to keep these in the refrigerator once they cool. The lids did pop and with the amount of vinegar and salt, it’s probably not necessary to can them in a water bath, but it makes me a bit nervous, so I’ll just keep them in the refrigerator. I made these last summer, too, and they do last in the refrigerator for months and months. They are a very sweet pickle and are good served with sandwiches.