Pickles in a dash ... quick and simple



The beginning of my masterpiece

 Have a few extra cucumbers lying around in the refrigerator ... well here's a great idea and what a great picnic side.  Nothing says summer or fall like a big batch of Summer Pickles.  The beauty of this recipe is that you can use cucumbers, zuchinni, or squash ... all are really good but my favorite will always be the pickled cucumbers.  Sweet and tangy at the same time, these little beauties have that subtle flavor of turmeric.  I fall in love every time I take a bite.  I decided to whip up a quick batch after my beautiful daughter, Shannon, expressed to me with great excitement that she would love for me to use the six cucumbers in the refrigerator to make some.  She loves them ... gets excited everytime summer rolls around because she knows its pickle time. 

This is the easiest process and it takes only a couple of hours before they are ready to gobble up ... not too many at once, of course ... you must savor them.  Plus they will get tastier during the week that they may be in your refrigerator ... if they last that long.  Try it ... they are delicious ... take a picnic and share them ...


Cucumbers added .... yummy!


Bread and Butter Summer Pickles

4 cups of sugar
4 cups of vinegar
1/2 cup salt
1 1/3 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 1/3 teaspoons celery seeds
1 1/3 teaspoons turmeric
1 large onion
6 to 8 cucumbers ... depending on the size

Combine the sugar, salt, mustard and celery seeds, and turmeric in a 1 gallon container.  Stir in the vinegar and mix well allowing the sugar to begin dissolving well.  Add thinly sliced onion and cucumber slices into the vinegar and sugar mixture and stir around to coat.  Place container in the refrigerator.  Pickles are good in the refrigerator for one week.  They can be eaten after a couple of hours.