PICKLES!!!!

I made a bunch of bread and butter pickles with some of my cukes. Will be making dill pickles too! I had so much fun doing it! The dills you have to let sit for six to eight weeks, but the b&b's are ready. YUMMY!!!!!

Wonderful! I made 12 quarts of dill pickles back in early June. It's one of my favorite things to do with my garden!

I love dill pickles, are they hard to make? Someone please give me a recipe.

They are super simple. I'll email you when I get back home from work.

Noobie - did you use the recipe I sent you?

I wish I had a big garden so I could can some stuff. Mom used to can pickles, green beans, tomato juice, carrots and pickled corn. Used to freeze fresh corn cut from the cob, strawberries, rasberries, rubarb, peaches and blackberries. It was soooo good. In fact I usually ask for canned greenbeans from the family for my Christmas present.

I don't do any canning anymore, but I would go to the farmers market and get the "fixins' for bread and butter pickles. Still cheap without all the hard work.

Watermelon pickles here, here they call 'em watermelon preserves. Easy, tasty and popular.

You know, with all the pickling I've done, I have NEVER tasted a watermelon pickle. I have a quest.

noobiegardner, please share your pickle recipes, if not here, in the recipe forum.

Knolan, I will dig out my recipe and post it. It is a sweet pickle seasoned with cinnamon, clove and allspice. Yummmm.

Oh that sounds sooo good.

Here's the recipe I posted earlier on another thread for Fly_Girl for my dills:

Here it is. This is my Great Grandmother's recipe but I added a few things to it....(and I can't remember if I doubled or tripled for 12 quarts....think I tripled)

1 Qt White Vinegar
2 c Water
1/2 c Pickling Salt
2 Tbsp. Mustard Seeds (or you can purchase the pickling spice)
Alum
Whole, peeled garlic cloves
Fresh Dill
Long, Red Dried Chilis

Sterilize your jars, seals and lids (I do the lids and seals in a separate little sauce pan....easier to get them out) and keep them in the hot water until your ready to fill them. Bring the Vinegar, Water and Pickling Salt and Mustard Seeds to boil and turn off. Slice the blossom end of your cucumbers off (important...this blossom end can cause spoilage) and then pack them into the hot jars. You can slice them any way you wish or leave whole. Add 3 cloves garlic, 2 red chilis and 2 good sized sprigs dill to each jar (I smush everything in between the cucumbers so it looks pretty when they are done). Add a grain of rice sized amount of alum to each jar. Ladle the hot pickling liquid over cucumbers and leave 1/4" headspace at the top. Seal and process in the hot water bath for 12 minutes. Wait 6 to 8 weeks to eat. If the jars don't seal in the first hot bath, put the jar in the refrigerator overnight and process again the next day. If it still doesn't seal, put them in the fridge and allow 6-8 weeks and just eat them from the fridge. A lot of people will tell you that you don't have to use the alum. Not true. You will have soggy pickles if you don't.....trust me, I've tried. Let me know how it turns out!

Knolan ~ True about the alum. Here's the

Easy Watermelon Pickles.
3 qts cubed peeled rind (cut into 1" cubes)
cold water
1/2 cup pickling salt
3 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups distilled white vinegar
1 lemon ~ sliced and seeded ( lemon optional)
2 - 3" sticks of cinnamon
1 teaspoon each ~ whole allspice and cloves
Tie spices in a cheesecloth bag
* In a large bowl, combine rind, 2 qts water and salt. Stir till salt dissolves. Cover and let stand 6 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse with cold water.
*In a 5 quart pan, add rind and enough water to cover... heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to medium... cook rind till fork tender... about 10 minutes.
*In a 6 quart non aluminum pan, combine sugar, vinegar, lemon slices, cinnamon and spices. Heat to boiling, stir till sugar dissolves. Simmer over Medium to Low heat for 10 minutes.
*Drain rind and add to sugar mixture... over high heat, heat to boiling. Reduce to medium heat... simmer rind... stirring occasionally till transparent for 30-40 minutes.
*Meanwhile, sterilize 3 pint jars/lids... leave in warm water.
*Remove lemon, spices and cinnamon... pack rind and syrup into drained warm jars to within 1/4" of top. Seal jars.
*Place jars in boiling water in a water bath canner... add enough boiling water so the water level is 1" over jars. Cover and reheat to boiling over high heat. Start counting the processing time when the water boils. Reduce heat to medium low so water boils gently. Process jars from 10 minutes.
*Remove from canner... let cool to room temperature. After 12 hours, test lids from proper seal. If a jar didn't seal, refrigerate and eat. Pickles serve best when chilled. I also find the flavors blend better after standing for a couple weeks. Nets 3 - 1 pint jars
Good luck and Good eating....

Beaker...no I didn't use your recipe....I'm sorry. I forgot all about it. I used a recipe my neighbor gave me. Question though. With the sealing part....how do you know that they sealed? I gave the jars the hot water bath, but how do you know if it's sealed? I'm new to this whole canning thing. So someone tell me how you know if it's sealed....I don't want any of my pickles to go to waste.

The lid will bow in, creating a vacuum seal. You can actually hear the lids pop while the jars are cooling. If you push the center of the lid with a finger tip, it shouldn't pop in or out. If I am not sure, I will turn my jars upside down and let stand a few hours on a towel to make sure they are sealed. If it didn't seal, pop it in the frig and enjoy it.

Thanks, Podster!

Noobie ~ you are more than welcome!
Knolan, How about your Okra pickle recipe, pretty please?

Thanks for that watermelon recipe Podster!

My pickled okra recipe is pretty much the same as the pickled except for, 1) don't add dill 2) use pint size jars and 3) mince the garlic. That's it! You can eliminate the chili's if you don't like them hot.

Knolan ~ I made one batch and it was so strong it opened up my sinuses and took the breath away both at one time. Better than hard
narcotics. Really horrible.
By the way, good thing the stapelia are a succulent, the p.o. is sooo slow. They haven't arrived and I take it yours haven't either. Maybe priority can make it before the weekend! I want to play with it. ; (

Pod! I sent yours out on Monday Priority Mail! I can get priority mail to Colorado and Arizona in two days! I wonder what the problem is? I received your box today...thank you so much! I'm afraid the ones I sent you aren't package with the love and care you used. I thought we were supposed to cut them, let the cut dry, roll them in newspaper and ship. But yours look so much better than what I shipped to you. Please forgive. If it's any consolation, I've already planted what you sent. I can't wait to see the blooms. What color is this one?

Which batch did you make, the watermelon or the pickles? I should have warned on the pickles....it'll stink up the house worse than a stapelia! Haha! And it will certainly open those ole' sinuses up.

Knolan ~ I made an okra batch, whew they were bad! I do love okra pickles tho.
You know the seeds took longer coming this way too. And I agree the connection is in Texas because I have sent many different directions with no complaints. Not to worry it will be fine. Please forgive me but I had a few already rooted so thought why not? Hope you enjoy...

This picture is the large one....

This is the small one...

I love those colors! The one I sent you is a pale yellow with purple stripes.

It will take patience to wait for the blooms. Somehow, I knew it would have purple, K! I have no doubt others are thinking pickled stapelia?

Now, that makes me wonder! If we can use prickly pears and "napolitos", I wonder if stapelia is edible. What pretty pickles it would make! I think I'm going to have to do a little research.