Bread and Butter Pickles

Description: This was my husband's grandmother's recipe. It is so good. Store-bought pickles don't even come close. This is a good recipe for anyone who would like to try pickling, but hasn't done it before. It's quite straight forward, not a lot of ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 15 cups sliced pickling cucumbers
• 3 onions, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup coarse salt
• 4 cups cracked ice
• 2 1/2 cups cider vinegar
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds

Steps:

1. Combine cucumbers, onions, salt and ice in a large bowl.
2. Mix well.
3. Put a weight on and allow to stand 3 hours. (For a weight, I use a plate with a gallon bottle of vinegar or water on top of it).
4. Rinse and drain thoroughly.
5. Combine vinegar, sugar, turmeric, celery seed and mustard seed in a large pot.
6. Add drained cucumbers.
7. Place pot on medium low heat.
8. Bring almost to a boil, but DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL.
9. Remove from heat.
10. Seal in sterilized jars, 10 minutes in a hot water bath.
11. Easy way to sterilize jars: Wash them well in hot soapy water.
12. Dry them off.
13. Put on a cookie sheet, right side up, at 225°F for 15 minutes.
14. Turn off oven and leave them in there until you need them.