Summer is almost over and you can feel the chill in the air. The time has come to start harvesting the garden and the excitement is overwhelming. With a new harvest comes new preserves, and my favorite one of all, bread and butter pickles. *It does not matter what size of cucumbers that I pull out of the garden to make the pickles because I will be slicing them to put in the mixture. The important thing to keep in mind is that I will need to have 16 cups of sliced cucumbers which means, at least a dozen medium to large cucumbers.
Once I choose the cucumbers and place them in my large orange bowl that I brought out to the garden. I carry the, somewhat heavy, bowl back into the house and dump the cucumbers in the kitchen sink. It is important …show more content…
In my large stainless steel bowl, I combine 5 cups of sugar, 3 cups of cider vinegar, ½ teaspoon of turmeric, ½ teaspoon of celery seed and last but not least, two tablespoons of mustard seeds. I move this bowl of ingredients to the end of the cupboard and wait to add it to the mix.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Now that the three hours have passed and I am able to continue the pickling process, I need to strain any liquid from the cucumber, onion, green pepper and garlic mixture. I will then take the stainless steel bowl full of ingredients as well as the cucumber mixture and pour them into a large pot together on the stove top. I now need to bring all of the ingredients in the pot to a boil.
While my ingredients are starting to boil in the pot on the stove, I will set my clean mason jars in a sink full of hot water because when you are about to bottle, the mason jars should be hot. It will take approximately 20 minutes for the cucumber mixture to come to a boil; however, once this happens, I take one mason jar at a time and scoop the mixture into each jar, filling them up to just below the neck of the bottle. Once I have enough of the bread and butter pickles in each bottle and the covers have been placed on the jars, as the mason jars cool down, the lids will make a “pop” noise and you know they have
Once I choose the cucumbers and place them in my large orange bowl that I brought out to the garden. I carry the, somewhat heavy, bowl back into the house and dump the cucumbers in the kitchen sink. It is important …show more content…
In my large stainless steel bowl, I combine 5 cups of sugar, 3 cups of cider vinegar, ½ teaspoon of turmeric, ½ teaspoon of celery seed and last but not least, two tablespoons of mustard seeds. I move this bowl of ingredients to the end of the cupboard and wait to add it to the mix.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Now that the three hours have passed and I am able to continue the pickling process, I need to strain any liquid from the cucumber, onion, green pepper and garlic mixture. I will then take the stainless steel bowl full of ingredients as well as the cucumber mixture and pour them into a large pot together on the stove top. I now need to bring all of the ingredients in the pot to a boil.
While my ingredients are starting to boil in the pot on the stove, I will set my clean mason jars in a sink full of hot water because when you are about to bottle, the mason jars should be hot. It will take approximately 20 minutes for the cucumber mixture to come to a boil; however, once this happens, I take one mason jar at a time and scoop the mixture into each jar, filling them up to just below the neck of the bottle. Once I have enough of the bread and butter pickles in each bottle and the covers have been placed on the jars, as the mason jars cool down, the lids will make a “pop” noise and you know they have