Yum! Sweet Refrigerator Pickles

This recipe came from an old and worn favorite recipe book I bought new when Coop and I first got together. You know the kind. One in which the pages have come loose from the binding and many are stained and worn from repetitive use. It’s been my best loved recipe source for the past twenty eight years.

These pickles are easy to make and require few ingredients. They work wonderfully as a side dish and taste great on a burger as well. They are similar to a bread and butter style pickle. The following recipe will make about 3 pints of pickles. I normally double it and make 3 quarts or put them into a gallon size jar.

Sweet Refrigerator Pickles

7 cup unpeeled cucumbers or young zucchini or a mix of both sliced thin ( Actually usually I make them with young zucchini.)

1 large onion sliced thin

A green or red pepper chopped is optional

1/8 cup salt

Place veggies in large pan or bowl. (I use a dishpan when making a double batch.) Sprinkle salt over sliced veggies and cover with ice water. Let stand 2 hours. Drain.

After placing pickles in jars, make the following syrup and bringing it to a boil. Ladle or pour over the pickles.

1 cup vinegar

2 cup sugar

1 tsp. celery seed

Store in fridge. The recipe says they will keep indefinitely but they won’t really last that long! : )

I have also canned these pickles (shown in photo). The only difference in doing so is that I make the syrup up, bring to a boil and then add the drained pickles to the syrup and return to a boil before putting in jars. If you do can them follow basic canning instructions, (hot jars, hot lids, wipe rims well, etc) be sure to run a small spatula around the inside of jar before sealing to remove air bubbles. Hot water bath them for about 10-15 minutes.

Zucchini Fritters

I have a plethora of zucchini in case I hadn't mentioned that. :) I found a tasty recipe for Zucchini Fritters and tried it today. Pretty darn good I must say. I served them up with a side of sour cream and freshly made salsa. What a treat!

I decided to turn the basket of assorted tomatoes that were setting on my table into salsa this morning. It tastes soooo good being fresh from the garden, especially with the freshly cut cilantro. Nothing beats salsa made fresh! I promise to share the recipe in a near future post.

I was glad I made it to the garden early this morning because we got hit with another thunderstorm and downpour later. Last night we had torrential rain and wind, not to mention the lightening that was striking from all four directions. Wicked to say the least. My garden has had quite enough rain so I hope it settles down soon. It would be nice if it would cool down, too. But I refuse to complain about the weather. It is after all August and we are at least not getting the floods and 100 degree temps here in NE Ohio. That's not to say it hasn't been extremely hot and sticky here however. According to the forcast there's little relief in sight. But the good news is...

Saturday evening is supposed to be clear. Why is that good news? Because I plan on spending the night out under the stars watching the Perseid meteor showers. I always make this effort because, as I like to say (with a grin), it is so nice for the universe to put on such a display for my birthday every year. :) Better yet, this year we should have complete darkness with the new moon and...we had a switch installed on our security light so we can turn it off!!! That was my birthday gift to me. I was afraid it might not get installed in time so when I sent payment I wrote a little note explaining why I hoped the co-op could get to it, but understanding if they couldn't and saying thanks for the great service just the same. On Tuesday a big ol' Fireland's electric truck pulled up. As I greeted the fellow I explained how delighted I was to see him and why. He said he read my note and that he understood completely and that was "why I'm here today." That made my day! So, now I can star gaze any time I like without the glare from the security light. That makes me very happy.