Small Batch Canning

Growing cucumbers is like growing zucchini; you end up harvesting enough to feed an army. At least with cucumbers there's an obvious solution---make pickles!

No one in our family is too excited about pickles, but we do like a few Bread and Butter pickles now and then. Just for fun, I thought I'd try a new recipe this year and found this one online. I liked the addition of diced green pepper--although I wish I'd have gone red instead--and whole cloves.

The recipe starts with "25 cucumbers." I don't think so. Why not make half as much? Wouldn't it work just as well?

It did. I ended up canning five pint jars for later and had nearly a quart jar's worth to refrigerate for now. The flavors haven't all reached their peak yet, but the small sample I had last night was good. The only additions that I would make to this particular recipe, outside adding the color of the red pepper, would be to use pickling salt for the brining process, and to rinse the cucumber mix in cold water after the briny liquid has been drained off. A few red pepper flakes might be good as well.

I followed the advice in Joy of Cooking for processing the smaller jars by using a boiling water bath--bring water to boil prior to putting the jars in the bath--and processing them for 15 minutes.

Now there's all that basil...