An overcast Sunday morning at the farm, as summer starts to fade away…
I don’t know where the time went this summer. It feels like we just unpacked and here we are on the eve of September. The gardens are starting to slow down, the days are getting shorter and the wind has changed. The sounds in the woods are briitle and crisp as the leaves prepare to fall. Everything around me is preparing to go to sleep for the winter. Normally, I start to slow down as well, but not this year.
In three weeks, I’ll be leaving for Calgary. My family’s world is going to be turned upside down. From this year forward, autumn will never mean the end of glorious summer. It will be, forever, a celebration of the beginning of life my first grandchild’s life.
I can’t wait to meet the little guy!
Continuing my series on PICKLING, of all the pickles that I make, hands down, BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES are the most popular. Which explains why this is the third year in a row that I’m sharing another recipe for the same pickle slightly altered. This is a great recipe to move from the ‘packed raw vegetables with hot brine‘ variety to the ‘completely cooked’ type. Don’t panic. These pickles are, in some ways, easier to make because you don’t have to, possibly, burn your hand while you’re packing them. With BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES, once they’re cooked, you use a funnel to drop the pickles into the prepared jars.Trust me, after your first jar you’ll be a pro!
BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES – adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Canning 2014
makes 6 – 500 ml jars
4 quarts small pickling cucumbers, sliced ½” thick
8 medium yellow onions, sliced ¼ “ thick
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/3 cup coarse salt
4 cups sugar
3 cups white vinegar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
THE STEPS:
- Place sliced cucumbers, onions, garlic and coarse salt in a large enamel pot.
- Cover with 2 “ of ice cubes
- Add cold water until it reaches the ice.
- Cover and leave for 3 hours.
- Drain vegetables in a large colander for 1 hour – discard garlic
- In a large heavy-bottomed pot placed over medium-high heat, add vinegar, sugar and spices.
- Stir well to dissolve the sugar.
- Add cucumbers and onion then bring to a boil.
- As the vegetables are coming to a boil, prepare mason jars according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Pack pickles in sterilized jars leaving 1’2 “ headspace – make sure rims are clean.
THE LOVE: Be sure to remove both the stem and blossom ends of the cucumbers so your pickles don’t get mushy.
Thanks for reading.
