Bread and Butter Refridgerator Pickles

 

Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles

• 5.5 cups sliced pickling cucumbers (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• 1.5 tablespoons kosher or pickling salt
• 1 cup thinly sliced sweet onion (I used regular)
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seeds (or 1/8 teaspoon celery salt, in a pinch)
• 1/8 teaspoon ground turmeric

Combine cucumbers and salt in a bowl. Cover with a thin tea towel and chill 1.5 hours. Or, if you are like me, get busy doing other things and just leave them in the fridge overnight.  Rinse cucumbers well in a colander, to remove salt. Drain well. Return cucumbers to the bowl along with sliced onion.

Combine sugars, vinegars, seeds and turmeric in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour over cucumbers and onions. Let sit at room temperature for one hour. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours and up to 2 weeks.

Makes approximately 4 cups of DELISH pickles

You will die.  They are SO good!

 Salting them helps withdraw the water from the cucumbers so they have a nice "crunch" to them.

 Drain well....

 Vinegar on the stove - this goes so quick.  I love that it's not a huge project but you still get a great finished product from your garden!

 Mixing in the vinegars..and then let it all soak together!

If you try this out, let me know what you think!

Homemade Summer Salsa

Mindy's Summer Salsa

1/2 bushel tomatoes, peeled and quartered 

(about 30#, I like to use a variety of toms for a better tasting salsa, Cherokee Purples, Big Boy, Romas, Early Girls, etc)

2 red peppers

2 green peppers

6-8 anaheim peppers

 4-6 jalapenos (or less if you would like it mild)

2 med onions (I mix 1 yellow and 1 red)

6 cloves of garlic.

Grind all of the veggies in the food processor and add to tomatoes. 

1/2 to 3/4 cup salt

1 T oregano

4 T cumin

 1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup cider vinegar

2 (12oz) cans tomato paste.

Simmer 3 to 4 hours (to the consistency of your liking) some yummy add ins..... I always use.. 4-5 tomatillos, lime juice (about 1/4 cup) and 1/2 cup chopped cilantro. 

I'll have to write a separate post on how to actually can this - it's fairly time consuming but well worth the work involved!