I am a little late on this post, but I am sure you will understand why, as I have added another plot (25’x100′) called ‘the back 40′ directly behind the pickle patch (25′ x 100’). Our cucumbers started coming in just before Father’s Day, and I had enough to replenish my sister’s favorite: Grandma’s Bread and Butter Pickles. Even though I am a grandma the recipe is from our Grandma Mews.
Grandma Mews
When my grandma passed away, I remember having to go through her house. My mom told us to take whatever we wanted. So, some of the things I took were canning jars and a pint pressure canner. Some of the old canning jars are so decorative that I repurposed them to store rice, noodles, and breadcrumbs.
Would you believe the pint Mirro Magic pressure canner is in my kitchen cabinet? The rubber seal that gives airtight closure is still good, probably because I kept it in a cool place. But would I trust the seal after 38 years? Can I even buy a new seal with how old the pressure canner is? Still, since it only holds 4 pints, I only used a few times. I still have the original instructions with dinner recipes. I guess this is the original Insta Pot, which is a fancy pressure cooker. For me, I am all about water-bath canning for preserving as pressure canning too much can go wrong.
Even back then I was keen on food preservation, gardening or anything home economics. I know that my Grandma Mews helped shape me to who I am today. I was fortunate to have lived a few miles from her and, when a teenager, I rode my brown Huffy 3-speed bike on busy roads. I am surprised my parents let me ride the busy streets.
One regret I have is that my children never had that close of a relationship with any of their grandparents as we always lived too far away. Now, our grandson is a different story. He is with us 2 or 3 times a week even during the school year.
I spent many sleepovers learning something like Wilton cake decorating lessons that came in the mail. Mainly, we “Baked up a storm”, as we called it.
Her home was a small cape-cod-style house, that had two bedrooms and potential to expand up to the second level in the attic. When my mom got married, they turned her bedroom into a dining room. One cool feature her house had, and you don’t find many in today’s houses, is a root cellar that I would love to have today as it keeps your canning goods and other root veggies cool. Our current house does not have a basement, let alone a root cellar.
It was in the basement that they did all their canning since it was naturally cool as they didn’t have air conditioning. Part of the basement was designated as the canning work area that had everything you needed: stove, table, water and a little old white refrigerator that I want to say had long legs. Today it would be an antique. I am sure it was an antique then but didn’t realize the character until much later in life. The basement was also the place that my Grandpa made his wine and had all his wood-working tools. I remember his concord wine being very sweet tasting.
Things that I remember her canning were dill pickles, stewed tomatoes, pears and, the topic of my post, bread and butter pickles.
Here is how you make her bread and butter pickles.
Grandma's Bread & Butter Pickles
Ingredients
- 4 pounds 3-to 4-inch pickling cucumbers
- 2 Medium onions
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 3 1/2 tbsp Canning and pickling salt
- 1 1/2 cups Vinegar 5% acidity
- 2 1/2 cups Sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp Mustard Seed
- 3/4 tsp Tumeric
Instructions
- Prepare canning jars according to your brand instructions or check out the canning and preserving guides by Ball Canning.
- Thinly slice the cucumbers and onion. I use a mandolin that slices about 1/8 inch thick.
- Using a sharp knife thinly slice the garlic.
- In a large bowl combine cucumbers, onion, garlic and salt.
- Put ice on top and let stand 3 hours.
- Drain cucumbers, onion and garlic in a collander and drain; rinse; drain again.
- In a 6-to 8-quart saucepot, combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, and tumeric. Bring to a boil.
- Add vegetables to vinegar mixture and return to a boil.
- Pack hot pickles and liquid into hot jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace.
- Remove air bubbles with a nonmetallic spatula.
- Wipe jar rim clean. Place lid on jar with sealing compound next to glass.
- Screw band down evenly until resistance is met or fingertip tight.
- Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.
- Yield about 4-5 pints.
Video
Final Thoughts
Like I mentioned at the beginning, these are my sister’s favorite, but my favorite bread and butter pickles recipe has more spices, and I will share in my next post. If you are looking for a sweet and sour pickle without a lot of spices, then this recipe is for you. Even though grandma’s bread and butter pickles satisfy my one sister, my other sister would tell me my cut is wrong as grandmas were paper thin. If my mandolin had that slice setting I would do it, but I wasn’t going to hand slice all the cucumbers to paper thin or buy a new mandolin just for this recipe.
My final thoughts on grandma’s bread and butter pickles are that you should slice them how you like to eat them. One way we like to eat them is with onions on a turkey or ham sandwich. You might like to serve them differently, and that is okay. If you make this recipe, please let me know how thick you sliced them and how you served them. I am always looking for new ways to use them.
I look forward to hearing from you!
