Bread and Butter Pickles

• servings: 4 quarts

Ingredients

5 pounds pickling cucumbers, peels on, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Salt

2 1/2 pounds yellow onions

2 cups sugar

2 1/2 cups white vinegar

1 teaspoon celery seeds

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 heaping teaspoon cornstarch

Directions

Arrange a single layer of cucumbers in a large bowl.

Sprinkle with the salt and repeat the remaining cucumbers and more salt.

Pour enough cold water into the bowl to cover the cucumbers completely.

Cover the bowl with a towel and let the cucumbers soak at least 2 hours or as long as overnight.

Drain the saltwater off the cucumbers.

Transfer them to a large lidded pot. Add the onions, sugar, vinegar, celary and mustard seeds, tumeric, and cornstarch.

Add enough water to the pot to cover half the cucumbers.

Cover and cook over medium-high heat until the cucumbers begin to become transparent, about 25 minutes. Let cool.

Transfer the pickles to sterilized jars with tight-fitting lids. Process for 20 minutes according to the instructions on page 126. They will keep, refrigerated, up to 2 months, if refrigerated after opening.

Notes

Dolly says: "We had jars and jars of these because there were always more cucumbers in the fields than we could ever eat fresh. Of course, we never had such exotic spices as tumeric or mustard or celery seeds to add to the jars, but I think that Mama would love them that way. They're really good on top of Big Beef Burgers, page 69, or straight from the jar."