|
Gardens and animals for food were important to farm families. Money was scarce so family members shared the bounty of their gardens with each other. Arrival of the spring seed catalogs was a big event. They also got together and canned in groups--it was easier and more fun--canning alone was HARD work. My great-aunts would gather to can corn, green beans, tomatoes, pickled beets, pickles, and soup mix (an end-of-the-garden mix of vegetables including those mentioned above with cabbage and carrots). Other canning included applesauce, jellies and jams (grape and strawberry mostly), peaches, and pears when we had them. Carrots were stored in the basement in dry sand, cabbage was canned as sauerkraut or hung in the basement by the root. Sometimes Grandma would plant turnips and cover them with hay or straw. When you needed turnips, you uncovered some, pulled them, and covered back the rest.
Bread and Butter Pickles
Layer as given and cover with crushed ice. Let stand 3 hours then drain.
4 quarts of sliced cucumbers unpeeled (25 to 30)
6 medium white onions, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1/3 cup canning salt (coarse)
In a separate container, mix then heat:
5 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
3 cups cider vinegar
2 tablespoons mustard seed
Add drained cucumber mix and heat to boiling point. Boil 5 minutes. Dip out cucumber mix and put it in jars, cover with hot liquid and put on lids to seal. (Variations on this recipe include adding 2 large sweet peppers and 1/2 teaspoon of cloves)
Sweet Pickles (9-11 Day)
I know it sounds like a lot of trouble and you don't have huge old crocks or maybe even a basement but this recipe is GOOD and worth the trouble. We have used Styrofoam coolers and they work ok.
Cover and soak cucumbers in a salt brine 5-7 days--this brine was made of 1 pint of salt to 1 gallon hot water. It gets very nasty looking but that is OK. After the 5-7 days, soak cucumbers twice for 24 hours each in a mixture of 1 gallon water and 2 level tablespoons powdered alum. After that drain and wipe pickles dry. Mix 1 pint sugar, 1 pint vinegar and 1 tablespoon of pickling spice and bring to a boil. Add dried pickles Let stand 24 hours, drain off syrup and reheat it. Cover pickles in it again and let stand 24 hours. Reheat, pack pickles in jars, cover with syrup and seal--very crisp.
|
|
