Bread and Butter Pickles

I've been preserving by some of the produce from the CSA this weekend by pickling. I'll report in a few days on my success with Asian cold pickling, but for now here is an old and easy recipe for bread and butter pickles. It requires canning jars, lids, and rings, but you just process them in an open hot water bath (that is, a big pot full of boiling water), so if you have a spaghetti pot, that and a few Mason or Ball jars is all you need in the way of "special equipment" for this canning project. And that's just if you want them to last for months. If you're making less (say half the recipe) and you plan to refrigerate it and eat the pickles in a couple of weeks, you don't even have to process them. Just pack them in a clean and sterile glass jar that used to have something else in it (pour almost boiling water in the glass jar and let it sit for 15 minutes or so to sterilize the clean jar). Bread and butter pickles turn an outlandish electric yellowy color (from the turmeric, which is also a preservative) that make them look like they are from outer space, or perhaps just radioactive, but they are really delicious.

Bread and Butter Pickles

1 qt sliced cucumbers
1 1/2 cups sliced white onions
1/2 cup sliced green peppers
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 tsp pickling or kosher (coarse) salt

1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. celery seeds
1/2 tsp. mustard seeds

Combine the cucumbers, onions, green peppers, and whole garlic clove in a glass pan or bowl. Add the salt and cover with crushed ice. Mix thoroughly. Let stand for three hours in the refrigerator, then drain well. Discard the garlic and put the rest of the vegetables in a large pan. Combine the remaining ingredients, pour over cucumber mixture, and bring to a boil. Fill hot jars with the vegetables and brine to 1/2" from the top of the jars, put on the lids and rings, and then process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes.