Emergency Pickles

It is the easiest recipe to follow, it is the fastest to make, and you can put anything from the garden in it. The recipe book called it "End of the Garden Pickle." The first time I used it was for an emergency, so from then on it was Emergency Pickle."

We had a very nice vegetable garden full of ripe and almost ripe produce and Hurricane Donna was headed directly toward us. We picked everything we could and then tried to figure out what to do with it. I found this recipe and used all of the vegetables we picked. A few years later I tried to make it again but had lost my recipe book and had to go back to Ball Corporation, Muncie, Indiana and request another book, which they sent me.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 1 lb. tender green beans, ends removed
• 1/2 lb. carrots, cut into slices (about 3 medium)
• 1/2 pound small pickling onions, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
• 2 large green sweet peppers, cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 large sweet red pepper, cut into 1/2 inch strips
Advertisement


• 3 cups cider vinegar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. dry mustard
• 2 Tbsp. mustard seed
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ginger

Directions:

Combine vinegar, sugars, spices and salt in a large sauce pot. Bring to a boil then add prepared vegetables. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Pack hot into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust caps. Process 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Yield: about 5 pints.

Above are the ingredients and directions directly out of Ball Blue Book. However, since I was in an emergency and had my entire garden in the house, my pickle included green tomatoes, very small ears of corn, okra, small yellow squash, cucumbers, and green beans. Also, we probably had 20 or 25 pints, so I just tipped the filled jars upside down until the seals popped. I skipped the water bath. They still turned out great and my kids loved them.

Source: Ball Blue Book, The Guide to Home Canning and Freezing, from Ball Corporation

By Clynn Altemus from Inglis FL