Strolling through the grocery store on my lunch the other day I stumbled across a nice big basket of local cucumbers. In a moment of impulse I grabbed them because (no word of a lie) the basket was adorable...
As I'm sitting in my office sitting next to the basket of little cucumbers I realized I better think of something to use these for... Even my clients were putting me on the spot "oh! What will you make!?" Me: "Uhhhhh"
That's when it hit me, I had an old family recipe stored away for just an occasion! So I got my ingredients together and did a small batch of Mighty Good Pickles!
Mighty Good Pickles:
12 medium size cucumbers, chopped into bite sized pieces
3 lbs onions
Chop and leave overnight with 3/4 cup salt.
Drain the onions and cucumbers (my aunt puts this in a pillowcase and hangs it in the basement for about half a day. I’ve opted in the past to wrap in cheese cloth and place in a strainer in a sink for half the day... felt better...)
But I’ve also been known to dangle a pillow case in my basement if the space didn’t allow in the kitchen.
( You can also leave the cucumbers and onions with salt for half a day, then drain overnight... Whichever works better for you.)
Cook in:
4-1/2 cups white vinegar
1-1/2 cups cold water
6 cups sugar
1 cup flour
1-1/2 tsp celery seed
1-1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsp turmeric
Boil for approximately 1/2 an hour, mixing continuously so that the sugars don’t burn.
Pour carefully into sanitized mason jars and seal with new lids. Let them cool on the counter and wait for the satisfying pops.
Makes approximately 5 quarts of pickles (20 cups).
Some of the instructions made me laugh, who knows if "overnight" is 6 hours or 8 and "half the day"... 12 hours? Maybe 8 hours? Wing it, just wing it and be prepared for a strong onion smell during the first step aand a strong vinegar smell during the cooking. My aunt always reminds me that pickle making isn’t a set science like baking.
This recipe is a staple on my families dinner table.
