I'm sure if you have chosen to garden this year or maybe been lured into temptation at the farmer's market you maybe have found yourself with entirely too many cucumbers. While the gorgeous plant seems short lived (at least here in SE Georgia with powdery mildew and bugs) it's a proliferate one.
No one really wants to see these go to waste, even me who thinks they taste way worse than they smell. My children and husband love cucumbers but especially when they have been soaked in vinegar and herbs.
Fridays are a day off and my oldest daughter loves to join me in making anything in the kitchen. I am not sure about you but the kitchen has always been a center of fellowship in any home I’ve ever lived in and for my close friends and family. We may join each other on the porch or by a pool for casual conversation but it seems like all the really magic connections happen in the kitchen.
I give my oldest the job of helping slice the cucumbers with her plastic/ceramic kids knife and after showing her how and where to cut, she had it down. Meanwhile I prepped the containers and obtained all of our other ingredients. She was very invested in this job and I wanted to make sure she did as much as possible. I have a tendency to "just do it myself" and that doesn't always work out for the best. So guiding rather than taking over takes a good bit of effort on my part.
We prepped the brine and then did the best part, loaded the jar with cucumber slices, a clove of garlic, some corbaci peppers in the large one for fun and then the hard part--waited. The next day the small jar was gone.
We have a recipe book that I am filling and Maddie, my oldest, asks me all the time if she can have that one. This recipe is definitely going in there and it looks like I need to get a second book to fill for Lucy.
What recipes do you like to make with your children? What activities do you hope they love as much as you do?
Sweet Bread and Butter Pickles
Prep Time: 5mins
Total Time: 8 mins
Yield: approx 2 cups
This recipe can be easily adjusted, we doubled it for the pictures above but did not utilize all of the brine from the second batch
1 cup non-chlorinated water
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1-2 tsp of sugar (you can add more for sweeter pickles)
1 1/2 tsp salt
approximately 2 cups of cucumbers (the fresher the better!)
1-2 small garlic cloves whole
1-2 sweet peppers, I like corbaci (if you like spicy, go for it, we have used a lemon spice
jalapeno before but they were truly hot)
1 small bunch of fresh or dried dill (optional)
Instructions:
Combine apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt and water to dissolve. Sit aside.
Place sliced cucumbers in the jar, arranging them as you like but adding the smaller peppers and garlic cloves towards the bottom. Pour the brine over the cucumbers, I use a bamboo skewer to get air bubbles out leaving about a 1/4 in headspace. Close the jar and place in the fridge for at least 12-24 hours to let the flavors meld. These pickles can last several weeks in the fridge but my family devours them much faster! Good thing they are so quick to make!
Happy Growing friends!
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