I'm back (sort of)--Traditional Bread and Butter Pickles

Traditional Bread and Butter Pickles
Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving Copyright 2006

10 cups sliced trimmed pickling cucumbers (1/4-inch slices)
4 medium onions, thinly sliced
½ cup pickling or canning salt
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric

1. In a glass or stainless steel bowl, combine cucumbers, onions and salt. Mix well, cover with cold water and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. Transfer to a colander placed over a sink; rinse with cool running water and drain thoroughly.
2. Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids.
3. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and turmeric. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in vegetables and return to a boil.
4. Pack vegetables into hot jars to within a generous ½-inch of top of jar. Ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover vegetables leaving ½ inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot pickling liquid. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
5. Place in jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Makes about 5 pint jars.
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I finally broke open a jar of these bread and butter pickles. They were the first canning recipe that I made, about five weeks ago. I think they're pretty good, although not quite as good as Mrs. Fanning's Bread and Butter Pickles. Not bad for a first try. I'll probably experiment with other bread and butter pickle recipes in the future, just for the heck of it.

I'm back from my vacation and one thing I seem to have left behind is my appetite. I think I just need to detox for a few days. I don't feel very motivated to cook. I don't think it will take me long to get back in the swing of things. I have to prepare for our cookout next week so I can't really get back to the blogging full-force until after that's over. I'm having trouble getting excited about that too.

While I was gone, Brilynn asked me what my all-time favorite recipe is and I can't say that I have one. How could I pick just one? I couldn't even narrow it down to a reasonable number. That's what so great about food and recipes - the possibilities are endless.

Blast From The Past: Bayou Chicken Pasta from May 2007. Maybe I'll make this next week - it was really simple to make and good too.

Question of the Day: Do you have trouble recovering from vacations or do you get right back into the swing of things?