
It's cucumber season in Northern Minnesota, and for me that means my kitchen will have a faint smell of vinegar for the next couple of weeks.
With our large family and growing appetites, I am getting less concerned about the quantity of jars lining my shelves. I am totally ok if my children want to raid the garden to eat fresh vegetables off the vine, or if they ask me, "Can we please make cucumber popsicles?"
So, it does seem that my harvest is a little less, but what I am collecting I am working to preserve. The first pickles I made this year were inspired by one of James' grandma's recipes that I pulled from my recipe box.
Grandma Dorothy's Refrigerator Sweet Pickles
Ingredients:
16 cups sliced, unpeeled cucumbers
1 1/2 cups sliced white onions
1/3 cup pickling salt (will be rinsed off)
2 trays of ice cubes
2 cups of sugar
1 t. garlic powder
3 cups apple cider vinegar
2 t. tumeric
2 T. mustard seed
2 t. celery seed.

Directions:
Place cucumbers and onions in a big bowl. Sprinkle with salt and top with ice cubes. Let stand for 3 hours at room temperature.

(I had lots of help with the process.)

Rinse salt off cucumbers and onions and drain well, place in heat proof bowl or jar.
Bring sugar, garlic powder, vinegar, tumeric, mustard seed, and celery seed to a boil in large pan.
Simmer uncovered 8 minutes.
Pour brine over cucumbers and pack in jars.

Refrigerate covered for 3 days before eating. They can keep refrigerated for up to two months, but they are not likely to last that long.

If you give it a try, let me know how yours turn out in the comment section below.