4 pounds of 4-6 inch cucumbers
2 pounds of onions, about 6 medium
1/3 cup canning and pickling salt
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
2 teaspoons turmeric
2 teaspoons celery seed
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
3 cups white vinegar

Wash cucumbers and trim ends. Slice into ¼-inch rounds.

Peel onions and slice into thin rings.

Combine sliced cucumbers and onions in a large bowl, layering with salt; cover with ice cubes. Let stand for 1½ hours. Drain; rinse; drain again.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large pot; bring to a boil. Add drained cucumbers and onions and return to a boil. Pack hot pickles and liquid into hot pint jars, leaving a ¼-inch head space. Remove air bubbles by running a wooden spoon handle into the jars to release air bubbles.
Cover with new bands and lids and tighten lids, wiping the top of the jar and threads to make sure it's clean and the lid will seal well. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.
Remove jars from hot water and cool on a cloth on the table or countertop.
Store in your pantry with your canned and dry foods, no refrigeration needed until you break the seal on a jar. Any opened jars or jars that don't seal should be refrigerated at all times.

Yields about 4-5 pints if memory serves me correctly.

To make about 1 quart of pickling brine:

1 cup white vinegar
3 cups cold water
2-3 tablespoons canning/pickling salt if you have it, if not, you can use table salt


Additional ingredients:

2 tablespoons black peppercorns, or coarse ground black pepper
1 large onion, sliced in rings
3 or 4 large cloves of garlic, sliced
small whole cucumbers and/or peeled and sliced cucumbers
fresh hot peppers or crushed red pepper as desired, optional


Stir brine ingredients to dissolve salt as much as possible.

In quart jars or any airtight container that can be used in the fridge, pack fresh whole cucumbers or peeled and sliced cucumbers, adding sliced onion and garlic equally among the jars/containers. Stir brine again and pour over cucumbers to cover, then cover tightly and place in the fridge.

You can also use small zucchini squash in this recipe or almost any pickling recipe that calls for cucumbers, including relishes, chow chow, piccalili and my favorite, bread and butter pickles.

For the refrigerator pickles I'd use equal parts cucumbers and small zucchini if using the squash in this recipe.

According to how many cucumbers you have you may need more onion and garlic and more brine to cover your cucumbers. These have to stay refrigerated because they're not processed in a canner for long storage. However, they will keep indefinitely in the fridge, if they last that long. Hope they turn out well for you.

* 24 lbs ripe tomatoes
* 3 Cups chopped onion
* ½ cup chopped hot peppers OR 3/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
* 2 tablespoons prepared horseradish (optional)
* 3 cups cider vinegar
* 4 teaspoon whole cloves
* 3 sticks cinnamon, crushed
* 1-1/2 teaspoon whole allspice
* 3 tablespoons celery seeds
* 1-1/2 cups sugar - white, brown or a combination of the 2
* 1/4 cups salt


Directions:

1. Set a pot of water to boil. Wash tomatoes.

2. Dip tomatoes in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split. Immediately dip in cold water. The skins will now slip off easily. Remove the skins.

3. Cut tomatoes into quarters and remove core and any bad spots or splits. Place in a large stockpot. Add the onions and peppers or red pepper, and prepared horseradish if used, to the tomatoes. Bring mixture to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer 20 minutes, uncovered. Remove from heat, cover with a lid and let sit for 20-30 minutes.

4. Place the vinegar in a medium pan and add the spices, tied in a cheesecloth bag. Bring to boil. Remove spice bag. Add vinegar to tomato mixture and place back on heat. Boil about 30 min.

5. Put tomato mixture through a food mill or sieve. Return to pot. Add sugar and salt, boil gently, and stir frequently until volume is reduced by one-half or until as thick as you like. You want to watch this so it does not scorch. Stir OFTEN. Remember, it will thicken a little as it cools after it's processed in the canner.

6. Using a wide mouthed funnel, fill ***pint or half-pint jars, leaving 1/8-inch headspace. Adjust lids and process.

***It's advised that you don't use quart jars for this. The mixture may not heat through and may not kill any bacteria present to prevent spoilage.

Refrigerate any jar(s) that don't seal and use first. Always refrigerate opened jars of ketchup.

Process: Boiling Water Bath, Hotpack

Jar: pints or half-pints

Processing Times

0-1,000 ft. - 15 minutes
1,001-6,000 ft. - 20 minutes
Above 6,000 ft. - 25 minutes

green bell peppers and hot peppers to measure 6 cups total
1 ½ cups white vinegar
6 cups sugar
½ tsp. canning/pickling salt
1 tsp. margarine
1 box powdered pectin, such as Sure-Jell
green food coloring

***NOTE***

You need 6 cups total of peppers. According to how hot your peppers are, vary how many hot peppers you use. For example, with very hot peppers you may only need ½-1 cup of hot peppers, according to how hot you want your jelly. So, you would use ½-1 cup of hot peppers and 5-5½ cups bell peppers. Taste and adjust the proportions to your taste.

Wash the peppers, removing the stem and seeds from the bell peppers and the stem ends from the hot peppers. Cut the bell peppers into quarters and cut the hot peppers into smaller pieces if necessary. In a blender container place ½ the vinegar, ½ the bell pepper and ½ the hot peppers, following the directions in the ***NOTE*** above. Remember, you need 3 cups total in each batch, to total 6 cups of peppers. Blend on liquify until very smooth. Taste for heat and adjust proportions of peppers in last batch if necessary. Repeat with last half of peppers and vinegar.

In a 5 quart Dutch oven place the pepper and vinegar mixture, the salt, margarine and powdered pectin. Stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Place pot on burner over high heat, stirring constantly; it will stick and burn quickly. Bring to a full rolling boil and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the sugar all at once and bring back to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly and making sure sugar dissolves. As soon as it comes back to a rolling boil begin counting and boil for 3-4 minutes. When the 3-4 minutes are up, remove from the heat and add the green food coloring one drop at a time, stirring after each drop, until it's the color you wish.

Working quickly, fill prepared ½ pint or pint jars to within ¼ inch from the top and cover with new canning lids. Tighten lids and IMMEDIATELY turn jars upside down on their lids. Leave upside down for about 10 minutes then turn them back upright. (I learned this trick from my County Extension cookbook. The boiling jelly kills any harmful bacteria on the lids and the jars don't have to be processed in a boiling water bath, although you may process them for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath if you wish.) The jars should seal within 1 hour. If any jars fail to seal store them in the refrigerator and use them first. Yields 3-5 pints of jelly.

I love this jelly with cream cheese and buttery crackers. Some of my family and friends like this with pinto beans or almost anything.

1 ½ lbs. ground jalepeno peppers
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cups shredded cabbage and/or ground green tomatoes
1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar
¾ cup sugar
½ cup water
1 Tbsp. canning and pickling salt
1 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro
1 tsp. celery seed
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

Mix all ingredients in a large non-reactive pot or Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Simmer for 8-10 minutes. Place in hot, clean jars and seal. Process filled jars in a hot water canner for 15 minutes. Check seals and if any fail to seal, refrigerate and use first.

Since several people have asked about my salsa from the previous post, I thought I'd just post the recipe here and on my recipe blog. Hope everyone that makes it enjoys it.