How to Make Pickles

I remember when I was growing up I would watch my mom and my grandma in the kitchen canning all the wonderful things they had grown in their gardens.  One year my mom and dad let me have my own garden….I raised all kinds of things! Mom told me my garden actually did better than theirs that year! :0) The one specific thing I remember about my garden that year was raising spaghetti squash, I thought that was the coolest stuff ever! I raise a garden of my own now that I’m an adult….it’s not HUGE like the ones they used to raise, just a couple of raised beds, but it yields quite a bit! This year I had an abundance of cucumbers, so I made the same pickles my grandma used to make….heck, she still makes them! She still has a garden too, and she’s in her 80’s!!
They’re called….

MILLION DOLLAR PICKLES

• 10 cucumbers, sliced

• 4 cups sliced onions (I use sweet)

• 1/3 cup pickling spice (you can get it at Walmart…I found mine in the aisle with the canning jars)

• 4 cups water

• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric (be careful this stuff stains everything!)

• 1 teaspoon celery seed

• 6 cups white sugar

• 2 quarts white vinegar
  

Directions

1. Place the cucumber, onions, and pickling spice in a large bowl.
   
   
   
2. Add the water and allow the mixture to stand 6 to
   8 hours or overnight in the fridge.
   
   
   
3. Drain liquid from mixture.  In a large saucepan, mix the cucumber mixture, turmeric, celery seed and white sugar. Pour in the vinegar, adjusting the amount so that it covers the mixture. Bring to a boil.
   
4. While the above mixture comes to a boil. I use that time to sterilize my jars. (I’ve already run them through a dishwasher cycle to make sure they’re clean) I just pretty much dunk them in the water and make sure the boiling water gets on all sides and then put them on a towel to drain.
   
   
5. 
   After all the jars are sterilized I put all the jar lids and rings in the water to sterilize them.  I don’t get them out until the very end. (I always make sure the rubber part on the flats are up. so they don’t melt with the heat.)
   
6. After the cucumber mixture has come to a boil, transfer the cucumbers and onions to the sterile jars.  Ladle in enough of the boiling liquid to just cover the pickles in the jars…pretty much about 1” from the top of the jar.  While the mixture is still hot, wipe off the top of jar really well with a damp towel, then with a dry.  You want it to be clean and dry or it won’t seal.  Take one of the flat lids out of the boiling water, dry it off, and immediately put it on top of the clean jar, screw on the ring part of the lid.  (I fill one jar at a time)
   
7. Repeat for all the jars.  The above recipe makes 6 pint jars of pickles
   
8. Put your pickles on a towel to cool. As they cool, you’ll hear the lids popping, which means they’ve sealed.  If you have one that doesn’t seal, just go ahead and stick it in the fridge to eat, it’ll last quite a while.

One thing you need to know, and this is important!  The turmeric  stains everything! Put down towels on your counter where you’re working and expect them to have yellow rings when you’re through. Also wipe up anything that might splash on your stove, etc because I’m telling you this stuff does not come off…IT STAINS BIG TIME!  I now have very yellow dishtowels and a yellow ladle,  but the pickles will be worth it when I make pulled pork BBQ this winter! YUMMO!

These make great gifts too!

Blessings
Missy

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