Candied Dill Pickles and Easy Apple Butter

Home canned fruits and vegetables is a great way to preserve your garden goodies for year round use. You can also take advantage of good buys at Farmer’s Markets. Some of my fondest memories, now that I am a senior citizen, are of the times I spent helping my mother and grandmother on “canning days.” From washing the jars to stringing beans, shucking corn, etc, my sister and I enjoyed those days. Even as children, it was incredible to hear those jar lids popping as they sealed and seeing the beautiful jars sitting on the kitchen counters. And there is nothing like enjoying the fruits of your labor during long winter days.  This article has recipes to help you make homemade goodies to enjoy year-round just as I did as a child!

Easy Apple Butter

So good on toast and hot biscuits!

Ingredients:

• 16 cups unsweetened applesauce
• 1 1/2 lb granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 lb brown sugar
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon

In a large bowl mix together the applesauce, both sugars, vinegar and cinnamon. Stir the mixture until it is thoroughly mixed. Put the mixture into large pans (9 x 13-inch) pans and bake at 350 degrees for three hours; stir occasionally during baking. Put the hot mixture into jars and seal.

Yield: 5 quarts
Notes: To make your own applesauce, cook down apples very slowly with just a wee bit of water until they are soft and turn to sauce.

My grandmother made her applesauce special by adding the little “red hot” candy bits.

Candied Dill Pickles

This is another old recipe from my Southern Indiana childhood. We always made our own pickles. Store bought pickles were rare in our area. I also made our pickles when my children were at home. Nothing like a good homemade pickle!

Slice cucumbers lengthwise in quarters. Cover with 1/2 cup salt to 1 quart water solution. Let stand in this solution for 3 days.

Drain and cover with cold water. Change water each day for 3 days. Drain.

Cook 2 cups vinegar, 4 quarts water, and 2 tablespoons of alum. Pour over the cucumbers; leave overnight. Drain. Reheat and cover cucumbers for a second day.

Drain. Boil 2 cups sugar, 2 cups vinegar, 1 tablespoon dill seed, and 1 tablespoon mustard seed. Discard alum-vinegar mix and cover drained cucumbers with the sugar and vinegar mixture. Let set one day.

Drain. Add 2 more cups sugar to vinegar and pour over cucumbers. Next day, pour off vinegar and reheat. Put cucumbers in jars and pour hot vinegar over and seal.

Note: If any of the jars don’t seal, refrigerate or place in a hot water bath.

Enjoy!

The Author:

Grandma Linda is a collector of old fashion recipes. She enjoys sharing these old-time recipes with others on her blog at http://grandmasvintagerecipes.blogspot.com