Aunt Lib's Bread and Butter Pickles

  The continuing saga of the canning marathon. We canned twenty three quarts of bread and butter pickles. We used the Ball Blue Book recipe for the majority of our bread and butter pickles, but we have found a recipe we like better since then. This is the recipe we recommend:

Aunt Lib's Bread and Butter Pickles (about 4 quarts)

4 qts cucumbers, unpeeled

4 medium onions, sliced thin

3 c white vinegar

4-5 c sugar

1 1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp celery seed

2 tsp whole mustard seed

1/2 c canning salt for cucumber prep

ice for cucumber prep

   Combine cucumber and onion slices in a large bowl, layering with salt; cover with ice. Make sure the salt is mixed well throughout. Let sit for 3 hours. Rinse the cucumbers and onions well to get all the salt off. Combine vinegar, sugar, turmeric, celery seed and mustard seed into a pot. Bring to a boil. Add rinsed and drained cucumbers and onions. Continue cooking just until the cucumbers change color. Only a few minutes. Pack warm jars with the cucumbers and onions. Split the liquid between jars. The liquid should completely cover the cucumbers. Leave 1/4 inch of head space. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Enjoy!

TTFN

B