(My Grandmother in 1937 cooking breakfast on her honeymoon)
I was talking to my mom the other day about all the vegetables we had gotten from our CSA lately. I mentioned that I had a ton of cucumbers & was planning on making refrigerator pickles when she told me that her mother's recipe for them was the best. So, I had her email it over to me, I love that she actually emailed me a jpg of her handwritten recipe.
Refrigerator pickles are pretty easy though we had to go buy mustard & celery seed (I can't believe a drawer full of herbs & spices & we didn't have these). The pickles have to be stored in glass or crockery according to the recipe. We cleaned out a couple of empty jam containers & they worked perfectly. We made 1/2 the following recipe & filled two jars.
Refrigerator Pickles
6 c cucumbers, thinly sliced
2 c onions, thinly sliced
1/2 t mustard seeds
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t celery seed
1 1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 c white vinegar
1/2 t salt
Layer the cucumbers & onions in a glass or crockery container, no plastic.
Mix the spices & vinegar together in a saucepan. heat until the sugar has melted. Pour over the cucumbers & onions. Cover tightly & let sit in the refrigerator for 48 hours before serving. Keep in stored in the refrigerator.
We cheated & tasted the pickles after only 36 hours & they were so good. They have a very sweet tart flavor. You can definitely taste the mustard & celery seed flavors as well. I love the pickled onions. The turmeric gives the pickles quite the yellow color which I'm guessing might continue to intensify. I'm not sure if its there for any other reason so we may leave it out next time just to see what happens.
We have three more cucumbers so we are already coming up with spicy & garlic variations in our heads.
22 comments:
My southern wife (much younger than me) turned this Yankee on to refrigerator pickles some 20 years ago.
Before that, my idea of pickles were the ones I loved from the Lincoln Del.
Yours look tempting, I must say!
Aw yeah!! I love pickles! Thank you for sharing this. Your mom is awesome, sending the handwritten recipe. Oh, and grandma is/was awesome, too! This brings a tear to mine eye :)
Oh! I just spent all weekend looking thru my mothers and my mother in law's handwritten recipes.
This post made me feel....nostalgic. I loved it.
An old recipe in original handwriting. They are hard to find nowadays.
The Pickles look good too.
Love the picture and the handwritten recipe. She had lovely handwriting.
I also love these pickles, and the fact that they seem easy to do. Have to try these with the cucumbers I still have. Thanks!
Oh how cool! I love pickles, and these sound so easy! You should share this recipe with Allen at Recovered Recipes! I tried making pickles a couple of years ago, and they just didn't work...we have no decent pickles here! I am going to have to try your gran's recipe. ps---what a Gorgeous picture of her!
i love that picture--what a keeper! i usually stay away from pickles and kick myself when i forget to request they not be included in a sandwich order, but these sound enticing. lovely post. :)
Thats so nice to use your Grandmothers recipe, and to have it in her own handwriting too.
I love the photo of your grandmother, and her handwritten recipe! Her handwriting looks exactly like my grandmother's. I've been on the lookout for a good refrigerator pickle recipe--I'm doing this one! Thanks for sharing.
I love this post! Your pickles look delish ~ I want to eat at YOUR house :)
I love the handwritten recipe! And I can't say no to pickles!
These look delicious! I just tried out another refrigerator pickle recipe a couple of days ago. I'll have to try these next. I love the picture of your grandmother.
Wow what an awesome post! That photo of your grandmother is just awesome and those pickles look pretty awesome too!
This is so wonderful... Pickles are one of my guilty pleasures, and for some reason, I've always shyed away from trying to do them myself. You're my inspiration today Kat! Thanks!
Thanks everyone. That picture is one of my favorites so I was happy to share it. These pickles have been such a big hit around our house that Matt ate one whole jar as a snack the other afternoon!
Found your recipe on tastespotting.com--can't wait to try tomorrow! Keep that recipe--I have some of my Grandmother's in her handwriting--they are priceless treasures that I hope to one day put together in cookbooks for my non- sentimental, no-can cook sisters (have 3) who don't get my cooking, recipe collecting obsession--unless I'm cooking for them!!!!
Your instructions say add water, but there is no water in your ingredient list or your grandmother's handwritten one so I am wondering how much water to use?
Thanks!
Anonymous - The add water in the instructions was a typo on my part. No water should be added. Seems like sometimes no matter how many times I proofread I miss something. Thanks for the catch & I've fixed it in the post.
Your comment about not knowing what the turmeric does....
well, from what I know, it has antiseptic properties (boil it in water and gargle with it, or drink it like tea 2-3 times a day if you have a bad throat, and it'll work like a magic potion!). My guess is that most likely it helps prevent the pickles from going 'off'.
Yogita
I usually do not like pickles, but these are awesome! They have a wonderful pedigree, are incredibly easy and absolutely delicious. I will be making these regularly. I am already thinking of including them with appetizers... :)
Just came across this on Pinterest ... and I was stopped dead in my tracks! The handwriting looks SOOO much like my mother's that I can barely believe it's not hers!! I'm glad I ran across this.
How precious to see your mother's handwritten recipe. I am a whole food, plant-based vegan physician. A patient made these and brought them to me as a gift. They are the most amazing pickles I have ever eaten. I just got online to get the recipe so I can make them for my family. Thank you so much for posting it.
Thank you for sharing your grandmother's recipe. It looks great! I definitely love the size of the pickles, it looks like one of them would fit a burger! Can't wait to try these at home.
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