Bread and Butter Pickles, Part 1

Today, I am home sick with my daughter.  She was up all night, poor kid, with a stomach bug.  So I dropped her brother off at camp this morning and stopped at the garden on the way home.  I am going to be a busy homesteader in the next couple of months.  Today's harvest was carrots, cukes, zucchini, peppers, mizuna, green beans, dill and a few cherry tomatoes. 

Peppers and carrots

 Dill, tomatoes, green beans

 Mizuna

 Cucumbers and zucchini

I finally have enough cucumbers to make the first batch of bread and butter pickles.  The recipe I use is from a very nice book called Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.   My friend Kathryn claims they are the best bread and butter pickles she's ever had!  I posted the recipe on a previous blog so I won't post it again.

The cucumbers and onions need to soak for 2 hours so that is what they are doing at the moment.

I have an Oxo Mandoline which I love.  These cukes are being sliced at the setting between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch

Sliced Onions.  Good thing I wear contact lenses - no tears!

Cucumbers and onions, covered with pickling salt

Cover with cold water.  I added some ice cubes.  Let sit for 2 hours, then rinse.