It’s canning season!
What have you canned for your pantry already? There are so many fun recipes out there to try – or time-tested ones passed down from mothers and grandmothers.
This year, along with dill pickles, we added bread and butter pickles and a cucumber relish, to our canning to-do list. The girls helped me chop up the cucumbers and helped place them in the jars, along with placing the dill into the jars for the dill pickles. They helped ladle the dill brine into the jars and helped take care of baby Lazarus so he would not find the need to be upset during our canning session. All the girls have been so helpful – it is wonderful. I am truly blessed!
We just finished up and the pot is simmering away with the first batch of bread and butter in the water bath.
Canning is one of my favorite homemaking tasks. It does not have to be a chore at all. Allow your children to help if you are willing to have them be a little sticky. Turn on your favorite music and enjoy the smells of beautiful preserves and goods bubbling away in your kitchen. I once read you can get twice as much done if you sit while working in your kitchen. Since I have been pregnant so many times during canning season, my feet and legs are often so tired and sore that I have learned to sit while working. I also think sitting as much as you can, while prepping your work, is a key to not being too exhausted at the end of your canning session (I have the perfect chairs that are more like old fashioned high chairs for the little ones. They are the perfect height to sit on and still reach the counter or table for all that cutting, dicing and slicing.) All the while, I had my favorite music (big band music) playing on the record player, the rain was falling down around us, the children were helping and truly, … it was wonderful. I felt blessed.
Shall I share the bread and butter pickle recipe? It turned out lovely and it did not take as much time as I thought it would to prepare, especially with little hands helping mommy out.
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This is the basic recipe- we, of course, doubled it. 🙂
Bread & Butter Pickles
4 lbs of cucumbers, sliced thinly
8 small onions, sliced
1/2 cup of canning salt.
Combine the salt, sliced cucumbers and onions together in a bowl. Cover with ice cubes and let it side for a minimum of 3 hours – ideally, overnight. After the time is up, drain, rinse and drain.
In a large pot, combine the following:
5 cups of sugar
4 cups of white vinegar
2 teaspoons of celery seed
2 tablespoons of mustard seed
1 1/2 teaspoons of ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon of ground cloves
Bring the seasonings to a boil and then add in your cucumber mixture and bring back to a boil. Remove your mixture from the heat and being to ladle into clear mason jars. Fill the jars, leaving a 1/2″ headspace (do not overfill). Wipe the rims of the jars carefully to ensure a proper seal. Place the new canning lids on and process in your water bath canning of boiling water for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
Enjoy!
{Linked up with Strangers & Pilgrims}
by Gigi
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