Bread & Butter Pickles with Dad {Webisode #36}
What’s Going on Today: Send daughter out for the morning with babysitter. Set up yearly pickling project with Dad.
Naptime Goals: Process pickles in the water bath after a whole morning spent pickling.
Tonight’s Menu: Mom’s cooking!
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Always save an extra pint jar for the kids to play with!
Most days I cook during naptime and have the rest of the day to go about life with a toddler. But last week in Cooperstown I deviated from this routine. Once a year my Dad and I set aside a morning to make my grandmother’s famous recipe for Bread & Butter pickles. It’s not exactly a difficult recipe, but pickling takes times and can’t be rushed.
Bread and Butter Pickles
I set my daughter up for the morning with an awesome babysitter, Helen. Armed with ample supplies of chalk, watercolors and donut money I knew they’d be just fine. Then, my Dad and I set to work. As you’ll see, making these pickles is not complicated. It just requires attention to detail – especially when operating the automatic KitchenAid chopper – and patience. We pulled together the sliced pickle mixture in about half and hour, then they had to sit for three in the ice and salt bath. (I used the 2.5 hr break in the action to take a nice long jog.) After we rinsed and drained the pickle mixture we made the brew, added the pickles and processed the jars in the waterbath.
This recipe was handed down from my grandmother and is very sentimental. Her notebook of canning instructions and recipes for family food contain many cherished memories and notes. My father remembers eating most of it as a child and I, in turn, hope my daughter will as well. Though her food wasn’t terribly unique – she certainly didn’t invent Bread & Butter pickles – they are things she made every year for my father and he, in turn, for us.
Recipe
Grandma Pat’s Bread & Butter Pickles
Makes about 8 pints
Ingredients
| 3 | green peppers |
| 6 | medium yellow onions |
| 3 | cloves garlic, peeled |
| ½ | peck of small cucumbers |
| 1 c. | Kosher Salt |
| 1 | bag ice |
| 5 c. | granulated sugar |
| 3 c. | cider vinegar |
| 1 ½ t. | tumeric |
| 1 ½ t. | celery seed |
| 2 T. | mustard seed |
| 8 | sterilized pint jars |
| 8 | sterilized lids and rims |
Instructions
- Wash and rinse the cucumbers. Slice them very thin, preferably with a KitchenAid mixer attachment or a mandolin. Slice the green peppers, onions and garlic as well. Combine with cucumbers in a large container or pot. Pour in the Kosher salt and mix it well with your hands. Pour the ice on top of the cucumbers and let rest for at least 3 hours. The purpose of this is to drain the cucumbers of excessive amounts of water and help them get cool and crisp.
- After 3 hours, pour the water out of the containers and rinse the cucumbers in clean water. Squeeze them dry in a kitchen towel or three. Set aside.
- In a very large pot over medium heat add the sugar, vinegar, tumeric, celery seed and mustard seed. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Then, add the pickles and bring mixture to a boil. This will take a while so be patient.
- Once water has reached a boil turn off the heat. Ladle mixture into sterilized jars, leaving 1″ at the top, and close with lids and rims. Only close the jar as much as you can tighten it with your hand, do not force it. Process jars in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.
- Set jars aside in a cool, dry place away from any drafts and cover with kitchen towels. Allow to rest for 24 hours without moving until seal forms.
This was my favorite show! A wonderful recipe and great family tradition. To late for pickling cukes here in San Diego, I'm all set for next season. Thank you!
This was my favorite show! A wonderful recipe and great family tradition. To late for pickling cukes here in San Diego, I'm all set for next season. Thank you!
This is exactly the recipe my grandmother and mother always made when I was a kid! They never used a Kitchen Aid, but rather an old fashioned wooden slicer (meant for cabbage I think). We loved them and no matter how many jars they canned, they never lasted long enough to make it to the next summer! I just made my first batch last month and have already eaten my way through three pints!! Everytime I eat them I reminded of how much I wish mom and Gam were still around the enjoy them with me.
This is exactly the recipe my grandmother and mother always made when I was a kid! They never used a Kitchen Aid, but rather an old fashioned wooden slicer (meant for cabbage I think). We loved them and no matter how many jars they canned, they never lasted long enough to make it to the next summer! I just made my first batch last month and have already eaten my way through three pints!! Everytime I eat them I reminded of how much I wish mom and Gam were still around the enjoy them with me.
I like it so much when you are in Cooperstown visiting. Your parents kitchen is so inviting and its fun to see the family cooking and eating together. What a beautiful garden they have!
I like it so much when you are in Cooperstown visiting. Your parents kitchen is so inviting and its fun to see the family cooking and eating together. What a beautiful garden they have!
This is the great blog, I’m reading them for a while, thanks for the new posts!
[…] I love my Dad, he is one of the most special people in the world to me. I am sure many of you feel the same way about your fathers too. When it comes to celebrating Father’s Day I like to break out what I consider “Dad Food.” Mother’s Day is all about sweet breakfasts in bed, Father’s Day is all about hearty fare, grilled dishes and stick-to-your-rib hot sandwiches. It is not that my Dad, or my husband for that matter, are overeaters, but they do eat differently than I do. I prefer lighter dishes and sweat breakfast, while they always prefer a savory, more substantial meal. […]
[…] Bread & Butter Pickles: We put up several quarts of these delicious pickles. It was a great batch this […]
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