#617 - 24 Hour Bread and Butter Pickles

(by Kenneth Miller - friend)

9 cups thickly sliced cucumbers (washed but not peeled)
2 cups thickly sliced onions
2 cups white sugar
1 cup cider vinegar
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. celery seed

Place sliced cucumbers and sliced onions in a 1 gallon glass jar OR a stainless steel pot OR a granite pot--set aside. In a saucepan add white sugar, cider vinegar, salt, celery seed and mustard seed. Turn heat on high--stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, pour this juice over the cucumbers. Place Saran Wrap over the jar/pot--let stand for 24 hours. The next day using a large pot, empty the cucumbers and juice into the pot. Heat just until very hot (not boiling). Put pint jars in the oven on the racks and set temp. to 200 degrees. Take the jar lids and rings and cover them with water in a saucepan--bring them to a boil. Put cucumbers/onion/juice in each jar until you run out of the mixture. Take a tableknife and insert it all around the sides and middle of the jars to get the air bubbles out. Put the ring and center piece on each jar and turn tightly. Put the jars on a surface that can safely stand heat. Let them cool and as they cool they will seal themselves. If the jars seal properly, they will last about 2 years. Once you open a jar, refrigerate it. If any jars have buttons that don't go down, use those jars first because they didn't seal.

#250 - Ham and Mushroom Casserole

(by Shirley McNevich)

2 TBSP butter
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 - 10.75oz. cans Campbell's cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups cooked ham (cubed)
6 hard boiled eggs (sliced or quartered)
toast or Chinese noodles

Sautee the mushrooms in the 2 TBSP butter for 5 minutes. In a saucepan, heat mushroom soup and milk together--when it's hot, add and stir in the sauteed mushrooms, cubed ham--cook for a few minutes until entire mixture is hot. Add the sliced hard boiled eggs last. Serve over toast or Chinese noodles.

#133 - Bread and Butter Pickles

(by Grace Pennypacker - friend)

8 cups thickly sliced unpeeled cucumbers (washed)
2 cups thickly sliced onions
4 tsp. salt
2 cups cider vinegar
3 cups white sugar
2 tsp. celery seed
2 tsp. mustard seed

Use a large stainless steel pot or a large glass bowl. Add cucumbers and sliced onions. Add 2 tsp. salt over the top and cover everything with cold water. Let stand for 1 hour in the saltwater. Drain off the water. In a saucepan, add the vinegar, sugar, celery seed, 2 tsp. salt and the mustard seed. Stir over medium heat and bring it to a boil. In a large cookpot (5-6 quarts), add the cucumbers and onions, and pour the heated vinegar mixture over the top. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring with a spoon. Put pint jars in the oven on the racks and set temp. to 200 degrees. Take the jar lids and rings and cover them with water in a saucepan--bring them to a boil. Put cucumbers/onions/juice in each jar until you run out of the mixture. Take a tableknife and insert it all around the sides and middle of the jars to get the air bubbles out. Put the ring and center piece on each jar and turn tightly. Put the jars on a surface that can safely stand heat. Let them cool and as they cool they will seal themselves. If the jars seal properly, they will last about 2 years. Once you open a jar, refrigerate it.