Aunt Bonnie's Bread & Butter Pickles with Slight Adjustments by Margarite

When I was a little girl, my mom used to take me to visit Aunt Bonnie quite often. She was actually my mom’s aunt, making her my great-aunt. I have so many cherished memories from her house. She was classy, loving, and shrewd.

I always aspired to be a career woman, and Aunt Bonnie encouraged me in every possible way. She had the best high heels I’d ever seen in my young life. They were elegant and strappy. Best of all, she let me walk around in them for hours. Sometimes, she even let me carry one of her cute purses around and pretend I was going to work.

Another great thing I remember about her house is her snacks. Ever a gracious hostess, Aunt Bonnie always offered a snack of some sort with a frosty RC Cola. Her house was the only place I ever drank RC, and I still associated that drink with her.

Her snacks varied, but my favorite was her homemade bread and butter pickles. (It was advisable to eat them before drinking the RC.) Her pickles were crispy, crunchy, and just the right amount of sweet. Who needed potato chips when Aunt Bonnie's pickles were available? Not me. She didn’t use shortcuts with her pickles. No, they were done right from the very start. No instant mixes were used in her kitchen!

I planted one cucumber plant this year, and it’s gone crazy. It has completely overtaken the stock tank in which it is planted. I harvested four cucumbers from it last weekend. I think I nearly have enough to make Aunt Bonnie’s Bread and Butter Pickles. Since I enjoy them so much, I thought I would share the recipe with you. I've made some slight changes to make the recipe easier to understand and more concise.

Aunt Bonnie's Bread & Butter Pickles with Slight Changes by Margarite

Ingredients

1 gallon of medium-size cucumbers sliced (Mine are large, but I'm using them, anyway.)

8 small white onions cut in strips

1 green pepper cut in strips

1 sweet red pepper cut in strips

1/2 cup coarse salt such as Kosher salt

Crushed Ice

1 quart apple cider vinegar

1-1/2 teaspoons turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

2 teaspoons celery seeds

4 cups sugar

Directions

Place sliced cucumbers in a large bowl. Add onions, peppers, and salt. Mix and until evenly combined. Completely cover with ice. Let stand in refrigerator for three hours. Drain. Combine apple cider vinegar, turmeric, ground cloves, mustard seeds, celery seeds, and sugar in a large pot and heat to boil. Add the cold vegetables, return to boil, and boil for 10 minutes.

Ladle into hot, sterilized jars leaving 1/2-inch headspace and process in water bath canner for 20 minutes. Remove jars with jar lifter and place on a clean dish towel where they can be stored undisturbed for 24 hours. Check seals. Store sealed jars in a cool, dark place. Store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator.

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