"SWEET PICKLES" Recipe, old fashion kid

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"SWEET PICKLES"
(old fashion kind) cucumbers
cider vinegar
sugar
crock jar (5 gallon)
salt
egg
alum
pickle spice

Make brian water (salt water) strong enough to FLOAT a raw egg in shell. Soak cucumbers in brian water for 2 weeks or 10 days. Put a clean board and rock on top of cucumbers to keep them submerged.

Cucumbers will look rotten, foam, burst open, look terrible but keep soaking.

Put cucumbers in clean alum water (guess) and soak for 24 hours. Remove from alum water. Put in fresh alum water 2 teaspoons to 1 quart of water. Put on stove, let get hot but not boil for 2 hours. Remove and put into ice water (takes lots of ice), chill thru and thru. This is what makes pickles crisp.

Make syrup:

2 c. sugar
1 c. cider vinegar
pickling spices as desired

Let boil seveeral minutes. Put cucumbers in syrp and boil 8 minutes. Let stand until next morning (24 hours). Pour syrup off and boil syrup again. Do this for 3 mornings, the last time put in sterilized jars and pour hot syrup over and seal. Turn jars upside down. Let cool before moving.

When cool, wash jars, dry and store in pantry.

Note: Lot of work, looks like cucumbers have spoiled but not so, keep going and enjoy delicious sweet pickles like women made 100 years ago.

-- Marie (rainbarrel55@yahoo.com), April 18, 2002


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