Montego Boy Pickles

I last made pickles 3 years ago, and this recipe was the sole winner of the three that I tried. The image is from the last time I made them, so it is a quart jar and not a pint jar.

"Montego Boy" Sweet Chips
-- 4 lbs. small kirby cucumbers, cut into 1/4" slices
-- cauliflower florets (optional)
-- 1 quart + 1 2/3 c. vinegar
-- 3 Tbs. canning salt
-- 1 Tbs. mustard seed
-- 1/2 c. + 3 c. sugar
-- 1 Tbs. allspice
-- 2 1/4 tsp. celery seed (didn't have)

Prepare scalding brine (1 qt. vinegar, salt, mustard seed, 1/2 c. sugar). Bring to a boil. Scald vegetables in boiling hot scalding brine in small batches briefly until skin changes color. Drain. Pack immediately into hot jars. Prepare packing syrup (1 2/3 c. vinegar, 3 c. sugar, allspice, celery seed). Bring to a boil. Fill jars with hot syrup to 1/8" from top. Seal. Invert jars for at least 5 minutes (or until sealed). Stand away from drafts.

Note: I water bath canned these for 15 mins rather than just rely upon the seal.
Old Farm Pickles and Table Preserves

Current Preserving Tallies

On July 27th, Katie and I canned pretty much all evening. Our final count for that was:
-- 8 pints pickles (Montego Boy)
-- 2 jars Peach-Cherry Jelly (not water-bath canned)
-- 4 8-oz jars Blueberry Jam
-- 6 8-oz jars Mixed Berry Jam (White Currant, Cranberry, Blueberry)


What prompted this canning party was the gift of a pint of White Currants, some Peach seconds and a bunch of pickling cucumbers. I also used up the gallon bag of blueberries from last year, some cranberries from last fall, and some cherries from June (all frozen fruits). I did not put as much sugar as the recipes claimed, and they are plenty sweet, but not jellig. The Mixed Berry set fine, but the Peach-Cherry is still goopy and the Blueberry is runny. I let Katie go home with 2 pints of pickles and a jar each of the fruits.

On August 3rd, Katie and I had another canning session. Our count for that afternoon was:
-- 7 pints pickles (Dill)
-- 18 8-oz jars of Spiced Peach Preserves

This session was prompted by a) some sad looking pickling cukes at work and b) the gift of 50# peaches on August 1st. That night, Abe and I chopped up what peaches required chopping that night and froze peach slices into four ziplocks. Katie and I canned half of the remaining peaches, we put whole peaches into two gallon bags and froze them, and had 20 peaches remaining. Today, I made peach pie with four peaches (drizzling it with the Peach-Cherry Jelly) and am currently dehydrating the remaining 16 peaches. Katie took home 2 pints of pickles and 4 jars of peach preserves.

Remaining Frozen Fruit Tally:
-- 2 gallon bags of whole peaches
-- 1.5 pints of whole peaches
-- 8 oz. sour cherries
-- .5 pints cherries
-- 4 pint bags of sliced cherries (to be used in smoothies)