Bread and Butter Pickles

I love all pickles but my favorite are homemade Bread and Butter Pickles.  The sweet, spicy, pungent vinegar flavors are so good with a turkey sandwich made with my own canned turkey.  Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

As a young child, I remember going to McClain's Fishmarket in Marblehead, Massachusetts to see my Grandmother, Mamie.  Mamie worked at the fishmarket.  They had two huge wooden barrels one for sour pickles and one with dill pickles.  These pickles were huge, fat and juicy.  For a nickle the pickle would be wrapped in butcher paper and one could nibble on it all afternoon.  I favored the dill pickle and as an adult I acquired a taste for the mouth puckering sour pickle.  Those sour  pickles produced some great screwed up faces and would have made a great photo study.  Thanks to Dan Dixey for posting this picture on his Facebook page at Marblehead Historic Images!

My mother also loves pickles and often receives a large jar under the Christmas tree as a present.  She even uses a jar to hold her pantry door shut so her dachshund, Tinker will not get in and get into trouble.

This year I used the Bread and Butter recipe and substituted zucchini for cucumbers.  Here is my favorite recipe.  It is easy to make these pickles and the only hard part is waiting a couple of weeks before opening first jar!

8 lbs. cucumbers
2 lbs. white onions
1/2 cup canning salt
1 quart vinegar
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons celery seed
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Slice unpeeled cucumbers 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Slice peeled white onions 1/8 inch thick.
In a large stockpot, arrange cucumbers in layers, sprinkling each layer with canning salt. Let stand for 3 hours; rinse in cold water and drain in colander.
Bring vinegar and remaining ingredients to a boil. Add vegetables; bring to a boil again and boil for 5 minutes.
Pack into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust caps. Process in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes.

By the way, the canned bread and butter pickles in the picture were canned in 2007!  They are still yummy.