I’ve never had luck growing cucumbers in my garden. Good, sweet corn and prolific cucumbers have evaded me.
This year I decided to get a little nuts and planted 8 random varieties of cucumbers with the thought that, at least ONE has to work out. I now have enough cukes coming on to make small batches of pickles once a week!
This is really exciting for me!
For my first batch, I had in mind the good old “grandma’s pickles” kind of pickle. This meant a trip to the cupboard, to drag out my stack of old church cookbooks.
How to make Dill Pickles:
by Mrs. Fred Johnson
8 cups water
2 cups vinegar
1/2 cup salt
16 sprigs fresh dill
1 clove garlic in each jar, optional
Boil water, vinegar and salt for about 5 minutes. Put small cukes into jars. 8 to 10 pints. Put dill into jars also. If garlic is used drop a clove in each jar. Pour solution over cukes and seal. Let stand for several weeks until pickled.
Updated process: Leave 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Add lids and rings. BWB 15 minutes (pints or quarts).
One of the joys of living in a rural agricultural area is a country church every 5 miles and each one makes a cookbook for their 100th anniversary. Once your grandmas and aunties have used these, they will inevitably be passed to you if you’re the cook in the family.
They make great wedding gifts, too. Nothing says “Love well, eat well.” like a well used church-lady cookbook.
Enjoy!
Get the handy print page and save this to your recipe box here:
Old Time Dill Pickles.
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David says:
I have a number of church cookbooks. Most all are from the church I grew up in and now attend once again. The recipes in the older church cookbooks are real scratch (rather than using some prepared thing) and also a reminder of church pot luck dinners from years past.
Those pickles look awesome!
On September 5, 2011 at 3:18 pm
Abby's Mom says:
Are those Lomon cucumbers in the 2nd jar? I have so many of them I can’t give them all away & would love to know for sure that they can be made into good pickles!
On September 5, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Abby's Mom says:
That should be “Lemon ” cucumbers… can’t spell for the life of me today…
On September 5, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Rachel says:
@Abby\’s Mom Yes those are lemon cukes. I have never grown them before, but they are such darned heavy producers I had to find something to do with them all. I haven’t cracked that particular jar yet to see how they came out, but they appear to be ok. We ate MANY of themr aw, side by side with my pickle cukes and the taste and texture were almost the same so I took the dive. I think they look really pretty 🙂 Good luck!
On September 6, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Abby's Mom says:
Thank you Rachel! We always grow the Lemons, we only need one plant that way, but boy oh boy you better love cucmbers the way they produce! I will try the pickle recipe & see what happens.
On September 7, 2011 at 7:31 am