Sliced Cucumber Pickles

I made these pickles for the fist time a few years back. The book I found the recipe in is a little gem I stumbled across in a used book store, Stocking Up: How to Preserve the Foods You Grow, Naturally Rodale Press.

These pickles are sweet, perfectly spiced, and include delightful strips of onion throughout. I love these pickles so much that when we moved from Indiana to Oregon I tucked a box packed tight with a dozen quart jars of them into the precious space behind my seat and held my breath as we drove across the rocky mountains, waiting for them to explode. We all arrived safely, jars intact.

You won't get tired of putting them on sandwiches and burgers, or slicing them and using them for relish on hot-dogs. But if you're looking for something else to do with them, I promise you won't regret using them in tuna salad, or making home-made tartar sauce.

I know, you might look at me funny and ask if you're really ever going to have 30 cucumbers laying around. Well, to that I say feel free to halve or quarter the recipe.

Yes, you will need to dust off your canning equipment for this one. It's a serious, delicious pickle that you can stick on the shelf and forget about. For an easier refrigerator pickle, check out this post.

Bread and Butter Pickles:

• 30 medium cucumbers, sliced
• 10 onions, sliced
• 4 Tbs Salt 

Sprinkle the vegetables with the salt and let stand and drain for one hour in a large strainer or cheese-cloth.

Meanwhile, in a very large pot combine the following:

• 5 cups vinegar (cider vinegar is great, but white is fine)
• 2 tsp celery seed
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 cups sugar or honey
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp mustard seed

Let the spiced vinegar come to a boil, add cucumbers and onions and bring to boiling point. Simmer 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and ladle the pickles into sterilized jars.

Process 10 minutes at simmering water-bath. Place on countertop and let cool to room temperature. Remove rings and store in a cool dark place.