It’s time for another canning link up with me and JamieAnne! (And her amazing-looking canned apple pie filling!) If you want to check out my previous recipes and ideas for canning, check out round 1 and jam or round 2 and tomato sauce. And click below to add your canning-related link or see what other great canning bloggers are up to!
This round, I’m going to talk about bread and butter pickles. And my grandma. She passed away before I got a chance to really know her (and my grandfather passed away even earlier than that), but she was one of those awesome grandmothers that made delicious old fashioned food. Homemade noodles in beef gravy, liverwurst, homemade English muffins, gooey cinnamon buns and bread and butter pickles.
I love the memories and associations that come with some food items. And I love how food connects us to family, friends and the past. This is part of my love for canning–not only is it practical, but it connects me to generations of canners before me (especially you, Grandma Kathryn!).
(Please note that my grandpa was an OG hipster, please and thank you.)
And now every spring, when the garden is overflowing with cucumbers, my mom and I set aside a weekend to spend together and can pickles Grandma Kathryn-style (so, this grandmother was my dad’s mom. But details, details…).
Bread and Butter Pickles
- Large bowl full of thinly sliced cucumbers
- 6 onions, sliced into thin rings
- 2 bell peppers, sliced thinly
- 1/2 C coarse salt (non-iodized)
- 1 C water
- 1.5 C sugar
- 2.5 C vinegar
- 1 T mustard seed
- 1/2 t turmeric
- 1/2 t whole cloves
Dissolve the salt in the water and pour over your bowl of sliced cucumbers, onion and pepper. Put ice on top of the cucumbers, weigh it all down with a plate and let it sit for 3 hours. Drain. This ice-and-salt bath ensures your pickles keep some of their crunch!
Boil the remaining ingredients together, add in the drained veggies and bring it all to the boiling point (but do not boil).
Put the pickles and liquid in your canning jars and process (boil ‘em) for 10 minutes. If you want better step-by-step directions for how exactly to fill and process canning jars, check out either of my previous two canning posts!
And if you missed this round, come back in 2 weeks for more canning fun!
What a beautiful story and a great looking recipe!
Those pickles sound good! I love pickles, but we made them “easier” with only cucumbers, onions and dill. Grandmas have those skills of making hood, hearthy food, don´t they?
I love (and often make) dill pickles too! But bread and butter pickles are a treat
I love pickles!!!! I know this is kind of random but I Actually had a deep fried pickle this weekend!!! I know it sounds gross, but my friend gave me one off his plate and it was actually kind of good haha
Not at all random or gross–I LOVE deep fried pickles, haha. A local burger place has amazing ones (and amazing black beans burgers)–there’s always an hour+ wait to get in, but it’s totally worth it!
I think all grandpas were OG hipsters.
My grandmother used to pickle EVERYTHING! She’s 100 now, so she doesn’t do much canning anymore, but we still have pickles at every meal. She pickled carrots, small white onions, cucumbers, beets, eggs, garlic, hot dogs (yes. You read that correctly)…everything. I used to love her pickled carrots! And pickled beets were my favourite food as a little kid. One time my mom brought me to the doctor in a panic because I’d eaten so many beets that my pee turned red. Ha!
Pickled hot dogs?? Not so sure about that one, haha. But pickled beets are so good! You have good small-child taste, haha. I should have made some of those earlier this summer. And yes, beets often do, umm, “surprise” you
Aw I love the story about your grandma. My grandma would make homemade chicken noodle soup and peanut butter cookies. It’s funny how food brings back memories!
Ohh, grandma PB cookies sound like they would be spectacular!