Learn How To Pickle
"Pickle Anything!"

Pickling Stories

Submitted by Michael:

"Louise's Pickled Peppers"

Tell ya  true story bout someone near an dear to my heart, and a pickling legend known all round her parts.

My beloved Godmother, Louise Wetzel, who lived in Akron, Ohio was famous for her pickled peppers. The sought after and prized fruits of her loving labor were an annual event looked forward to by all who knew and loved her.
                                                                                                 
She canned every year after visiting the fields herself to select the best peppers for her preserves. She would select medium hot, and hot varieties to custom your peppers to your liking. She had another stuffed pepper recipe that was raved, she would stuff the hot peppers with sauerkraut and then pickle them with her tasty preserve recipe. Fresh dill, garlic and her secret blend of spices to produce the tastiest, crispest pickled peppers, the thought of which waters ones mouth to this day.

Luckily her recipe lives on and I now pickle her peppers, and also use her recipe for celery, asparagus, and pickles.

We had to say our goodbyes in the winter of January 28, 2007 and I committed to submit her recipe in our state and county fairs, for I know for sure she’s got a winner recipe.

So, as you see this is only the start of our story, we’ll reserve bragging rights until we’ve taken home a prize in her honor.

We love and miss you Godmother Louise.

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Submitted by Francine Larson:

The Time I was “In a Pickle

When my four daughters were very young, my husband Jim and I would get a baby sitter about once a month and go to our favorite restaurant. At that time, our very favorite was Chief Charley’s restaurant.  Not only were the entrees good, but the salad bar was so complete and delicious, that it is by far the best salad bar I have  ever had the privilege of sampling. 

That is precisely  how my story starts: It began at the salad bar of our favorite restaurant, Chief Charley’s. That evening, I heaped my plate with all the usual goodies one gets at a salad bar. One particular thing stood out among  the other delicious salads and cheeses and that was the watermelon pickles. Yep, that was the star of the whole show.  Prior to this, I had never eaten watermelon pickles.  These pickles became my passion. I don’t think I really paid too much attention to the remainder of the meal because the watermelon pickles lured me back to the salad bar, time after time. The sweet-tart watermelon taste satisfied my taste buds. The pickles were absolutely and divinely refreshing and delicious!

After one of these evenings at Chief Charley’s with Jim, I began to think about making watermelon pickles. I looked through a recipe book handed down to me from my mother.  I am guessing it was printed about 60 years ago. I looked in the table of contents of the red-checked Better Homes and Gardens and there it was, a recipe for watermelon pickles.  My mouth began to water as I wrote down the ingredients. Watermelons are plentiful in Florida from spring until about December, so that was a plus.

I didn’t know if my pickles would taste like Chief Charley’s, but I simply had to try and make this fantastic delicacy.  I made my watermelon pickles.  I was in paradise.  After a couple of trial runs, I decided to leave out the cloves. (For my taste, I liked it better and it tasted more like the ones in the restaurant.)

I was actually thrilled with the results. Here is the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens, about 60 years ago:

Watermelon Pickles

2 pounds watermelon rind
4 cups sugar
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
1 lemon, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons cinnamon bark
1 tablespoon whole cloves (optional)

Trim dark green and pink parts of rind; cut rind in 1-inch cubes.  Soak overnight in salt water, ½ cup coarse –medium salt to 1 quart water; drain, rinse and cover with cold water.  Cook just tender; drain.

Combine sugar, vinegar, water, lemon and spices tied in a bag.  Simmer 10 minutes.

Remove spice bag; add watermelon rind.  Simmer until clear.  Fill hot, sterilized jars to ½ inch from top.  Seal.  Makes 3 pints.

I kept making watermelon pickles and giving them away for gifts but mostly indulging to my heart’s content when I craved watermelon pickles. (No, I was not  pregnant at that time, just needed my pickles.)

That is just the first part of my true story.  I decided I could be the pickle queen.  My sister lives in an area in Florida where cucumbers are plentiful. She brought me the perfect size for dill pickles.  My heart leaped with excitement as I began to make my first batch of dill pickles.

By this time, my kitchen cabinets were getting pretty full and I didn’t have a pantry but I continued on my “pickle journey.”

A friend of mine gave me her recipe for strip pickles but I can’t seem to find that one.

As my “pickling” became a weekly occurrence, I experimented with mustard pickles and butter and bread pickles.  They were all good, crisp and delicious, although watermelon remains my favorite. They are a taste of the south, for sure.

I’m sure my four daughters and Jim will not forget that summer, either. Since I didn’t have a pantry at that time, most of the kitchen cabinets contained pickles and more pickles. Including the strip pickles that I don’t have the recipe for, I made five different kinds of pickles.

I can still see the expression on Jim’s face as he opened the kitchen cabinet that was filled with watermelon pickles, dill pickles, strip pickles, mustard pickles and bread and butter pickles.

Now that I have a pantry, I think it is time to roll up my sleeves and prepare some more pickles...

Dill Pickles

Scrub medium cucumbers with brush and pack into hot, sterilized jars.

To each quart add: 2 heads of dill, 1 piece alum the size of a small grape and 1 teaspoon mustard seed.  Fill jars with hot brine:  1 cup cider vinegar; 2 cups water, and 1 tablespoon course-medium salt.  Seal.

Crisp Pickle Slices (Butter and Bread Type

4 quarts sliced medium cucumbers
6 medium white onions, sliced
2 green peppers, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1/8 cup coarse-medium salt
5 cups sugar
1 ½ teaspoons turmeric
1 ½ teaspoon celery seed
2 tablespoons mustard seed
3 cups cider vinegar

Do not pare cucumbers; slice thin.  Add onions, peppers and whole garlic cloves.  Add salt; cover with cracked ice; Mix thoroughly.  Let stand 3 hours; drain thoroughly.

Combine remaining ingredients; pour over cucumber mixture.  Heat just to a boil.  Seal in hot, sterilized jars.  Makes 8 pints.

Old Time Mustard Pickles

3 pounds small cucumbers
½ cup prepared mustard
4 cups white vinegar
½ cup salt
3 ½ cups sugar

If small cucumbers aren’t available, cut cucumbers in 1 ½ inch pieces.  Combine remaining ingredients.  Heat to a boil.

Add pickles and reheat to a boil; pour into hot, sterilized jars, filling to 1 inch from top.  Vinegar solution should cover pickles.  Seal each jar immediately.  Makes 7 pints.

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Submitted by M. Adams:

I grew up in the UK and loved Branston & especially Pan Yan sweet pickle. I emigrated to Australia some 20 years ago and my diet changed. Up until fairly recently Branston pickle was available out here, but I never found any Pan Yan.  As a pickle lover I imagine that you might know the current status of these two products and if they are still available in the UK. At 71, I am not really into making my own pickles, cooking a decent boiled egg is just within my reach, however I have added your web site to my list, so there is hope yet! some information I have gleaned from the web suggeststhat the two products in question may have become casualties of the wheeling & dealing of multi national food corporations in their lust for even bigger profits.Oh for a decent Ploughmans lunch, or "Nammet" as it was called on my home of the Isle of Wight.

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Submitted by J. Lambert:

My Grand-Parents had A big House.... with a porch all the way around it. Their were 16 in Their Family.... Soooo They had to be very saving..... They Dried fruits, vegtables, Beef, Beans.... Buttt my favorites were Pickle Beans and Pickle Corn..... They had a Spring House, where They kept Their Butter and milkilk..... AAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNDDDDDD They kept a 60 gallon Barrel... like the Whiskey Barrel.... full of Beans and Corn Pickling.... I often slipped out there and got me a hand full of pickle Beans and Corn and ate Them.... My biggest Desire... is to learn how to Pickle Greens... like Turnips, Spinach, Mustard, Greens.... My Dad made some pickle Greens one time... I just Loved Them, Buttt I never knew how He Pickled Them... I was always afraid that I might Poison My Self... Thanks Very Much.