Bread And Butter Pickles - cooking recipe

Ingredients

25 cucumbers, thinly sliced
6 onions, thinly sliced
2 green bell peppers, diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 cup salt
3 cups cider vinegar
5 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
1 tablespoon ground turmeric

Preparation

1. In a large bowl or a tub, mix together cucumbers, onions, green bell peppers, garlic and salt. Allow to stand approximately 3 hours.
2. In a large saucepan, mix the cider vinegar, white sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, whole cloves and turmeric. Bring to a boil.
3. Drain liquid from the cucumber mixture. Stir the mixture into the boiling vinegar mixture. Remove from heat shortly before the combined mixtures return to boil.
4. Transfer to sterile containers. Seal and chill in the refrigerator until serving.
My Note: I says use a large bowl they should have said a tub -- I used three large bowls and then poured it all into a tub to mix the cukes with the salt. I also covered the salted cukes with ice and a loose cover (I think the ice gives the pickles a little more crispness) I made 35 pints in July 2009 and gave them as gifts, as well as ate them, they were a hit. They were too salty after much rinsing so I cut back the salt to about half after the first batch. I started making double the recipe. I mixed them in a large cooler to have enough room to blend everything real well. I added 2 red and 2 orange peppers to the recipe to give it color and just chopped it instead of diced because the peppers are just as good to eat. I put ice on the top while the mix stands so the cukes and peppers get crisp. The cooler helps keep the ice from melting too fast. I packed the pint jars with the cukes then ladled in the brine, this works fine. I put them in a 10 minute 'bath' since I made so many and wanted them to last. I opened the last jar a few weeks ago and it is just as fresh as when I made them last year. I just finished making 45 pints today. They're ready to eat right away. Fantastic pickles! pickle tidbit: when storing pickles, turn them upside down, so that the top pickles are soaking in the brine, since the pickles will rise. Then as you eat them the bottom soaks. I think the recipe should read 25 pickling cukes. Some folks who never made pickles before used regular cukes which were to big and made them come out soggy. One thing I would change is after draining the brine, rinse the vegetable mix and drain again. It was a bit too salty for some. If you make them again, and I will definitely do this.