I bet I have a jillion pickle recipes – well, maybe not a jillion, but a hundred, anyway. My mother was an expert pickler (is that a word?) and I have all her recipes plus all the recipes in all the canning books I have (did I mention that I collect canning books?)
I have made 14 day pickles, 7 day pickles, crunchy green tomato pickles, bread and butter pickles, icicle pickles, no-name pickles and relishes of all kinds.
This year, however, I have been under a great time constraint due to a deadline for a writing assignment looming. So – I have had plenty of cucumbers to eat on, but no time to make pickles!
Today I decided to take a few hours to make pickles. A “few hours”? Yes, I cheated. And this is why (besides “time”).
Even though I have made all kinds of pickles, I’d never been able to get a dill pickle that was as good as good ole store-bought hamburger dills (which is what my husband loves on his burgers).
Last year I noticed these Ball Kosher Dill and Bread and Butter mixes at the grocery store.

So I decided to try the Dill mix and WOW! It was delicious! This year I also bought the Bread and Butter mix, and loved it as well. It is so quick and easy that it absolutely feels like cheating!
So – here’s today’s adventure.
First we picked cucumbers.

Then I scrubbed them and sliced a bowl full.


I missed getting a picture of the mixture, but just follow the directions on the label.
Next fill the jars, and waterbath for 15 minutes.


Next I decided to make some sweet pickle relish using the Bread and Butter mix (a recipe is merely a suggestion – right?)

I used cucumbers, an orange and a yellow bell pepper, and a purple onion. I chopped them, filled jars and waterbathed.

It’s pretty, whether it’s any good or not!
Next I did a turn of dill chunks and then threw all the extras in a bowl with all the leftover mix (dill and bread and butter together). That should be an interesting taste! HA!


All in all, not a bad job for 4 hours!

They’ll really be good this winter, too!
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