9 Day Pickles

These are one of my favorite pickles. They remind me of pickles my uncle Roland made me when I was a kid. They are quite similar to the Lime Pickles in flavor but the technique is very different.

Ingredients:

1 gallon young cucumbers
1 cup salt
2 cups vinegar
1/2 teaspoon powdered alum
4 lbs white sugar
6 cups cider vinegar
1 stick cinnamon
1 tablespoon allspice
1 tablespoon whole cloves

Directions:
Day 1: Mix 1 gallon water with 1 cup of salt in a stone crock. Add whole cucumbers to saltwater. Weigh down by covering with a small plate. Cover.

 

Day 2: Let stand
Day 3: Let stand
Day 4: Drain and cover with fresh water
Day 5: Drain and cover with fresh water
Day 6: Drain and cover with fresh water
Day 7: Drain, cut cucumbers into 1/2 inch chunks (or slices or spears). In a large pot, bring pickles, 1 gallon of water, 2 cups vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon alum to a boil. Let stand for 1 hour. Drain. Boil 1 gallon of water and pour over pickles. Transfer to crock, weigh down, cover and let stand.

 

Day 8: Drain pickles. Tie cinnamon, cloves, and allspice in cheesecloth. Boil spices with 6 cups cider vinegar and 4 lbs white sugar for 3 minutes. Pour spiced mixture over pickles. Weigh down, cover and let stand.

 

Day 9: Pour off syrup into large pot. Bring to boil. Pack pickles into sterilized jars. Pour syrup over pickles. Seal jars (Boil for 11 minutes).

 

These are good to eat right away. Give 3 weeks to fully develop flavor.

Spiced Beets

 

It is high harvest time right now, so canning is in full swing. I love spice beets. You can’t eat much at once but they’re awesome in small doses.  

For this batch I used golden beets, makes for a beautiful presentation when mixed for serving.

Ingredients:
35 to 40 small beets or 15 large beets
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
2 cups white vinegar
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon whole allspice
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon whole cloves

Directions:
1. In a kettle, cook the beets until tender. Dip in cold water and peel off the skins. Slice 1/4 inch thick or cut into quarters if using smaller beets.

2. Pack tightly (snug but not bruising each other) into canning jars.

 

3. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, vinegar, ground cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and whole cloves.

4. Boil for 10 minutes and pour at once over the beets, leaving a 3/4-inch head space (the liquid should go no farther than the shoulder of the jar).

 

5. Process in a boiling-water bath for 12 minutes.

6. Remove immediately and cool on a rack.

Lime Pickles

 

Here is my first attempt at Mama Dessie’s lime pickles (see recent post). Everyone remembers these, but I had a hard time finding the recipe. Mom finally found it in an old recipe book and sent it to me (thanks Mom). Of course I didn’t want to do 7 pounds to start with, actually I couldn’t find 7 pounds, I could only find 2. Conversions galore.

This is the first time I’ve used lime. Weird stuff, makes the cucumbers VERY crisp. 

Ingredients:
2 lbs cucumbers
12 cups water
2 cups slated lime (hydrated)
3.5 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp (scant) pickling spice
1/2 tsp (scant) celery seed
1/2 tsp (scant) whole cloves
3 cups cider vinegar

Yields approximately 3 pints

Directions:
1. Slice cucumbers and place in enamel crock or plastic tub.
 

2. Add lime and cover with water. Stir to mix.
  

3. Cover with a plate to weigh down. Cover crock.
 

4. Rinse thoroughly in several changes of water. Cover in water and let stand for 3 hours.

5. Combine sugar, vinegar, and spices. Pour over cucumbers. Let stand over night.
 

6.  Pour everything into a large pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 40 minutes.
 

7. Pack into sterilized jars and process for 11 minutes.

Hot Bread and Butter Pickles

Lots of canning going on right now. We’re trying to use up all of the veggies before the season is over. I’ve tried a few recipes so far for various pickles, but so far these are my favorite bread and butter pickles. Not bad for a total experiment (trying to use up some cayennes).

If you don’t can, start. You’ll never go back to store bought pickles and veggies again.

Ingredients

1/2 lb of assorted hot peppers (7 oz. Hungarian wax and 2 oz. cayenne)
1/2 lb of carrots cut into 1/4 inch strips
1 medium onion thinky sliced
2 lb cucumbers cut into wedges
3 tbsp salt
7 cups sugar
7 cups vinegar
1 tsp celery seed
1 tbsp pickling spice
1 1/2 tsp turmeric

Yields 3 pints 

Directions
1. Combine vegetables in a bowl and mix with salt.
 

2. Let stand for at least 2 hours. Rinse and drain thoroughly.
 

3. Heat up sugar, vinegar, celery seed, pickling spice and turmeric in a large pot over medium heat.

4. Add vegetables and cook for 10 minutes.

5. Remove from heat, cool for 15 minutes. Spoon into sterilized jars.

6. Process for 11 minutes. Let stand for 2 weeks or more to allow flavors to blend.
 

Notes:
The cucumbers came out a little limp, I should have cut them into slices. Also we came up short of 3 pints. Next time we’ll add a little more veggies.

Mixed Dill Peppers

This is a recipe that I did last year. It was a big hit. The garlic is wonderful and the peppers add the perfect amount of heat.

Our pepper plants are all full of peppers right now. We need to can a bunch of them soon before the frost comes.

Ingredients
8 cups of mixed peppers, sliced (I used Hungarian wax, cayenne, and jalepeno)
15 pearl onions cut in halves (about 2 cups)
4 heads of garlic, cloves peeled and cut in half
6 heads of dill
3 cups of distilled vinegar
3 cups water
1 1/2 tsp pickling salt

Yields 6 pints

Directions
1. Wash peppers.

2. Slice vegetables.
 

3. Bring vinegar, water and salt to a boil.

4. Divide vegetables and pack into sterilized pint jars.

5. Process in a hot water bath for 11 minutes.