Cucumber season is in full-swing in our garden. We're growing several varieties, including sugar crunch, lemon, and bush cucumbers.
The lemon cucumbers are doing well and producing heavily.
These are the sugar crunch cucumbers. The name describes perfectly their taste and texture. I absolutely love them and plan to grow them each year.
Mindy used the bush and sugar crunch cucumbers to make pickles. We had about two pounds, so she halved the recipe for Cucumber Chips in The Complete Book of Home Preserving. (http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Complete-Book-Home-Preserving/dp/0778801314.)
The recipe that she used calls for pickling or canning salt, white vinegar, water, ground turmeric, cinnamon sticks, gingerroot, mustard seeds, whole cloves, granulated sugar, and lightly packed brown sugar.
She created a spice bag by tying the cinnamon sticks, gingerroot, mustard seeds, and cloves in a square of cheesecloth. The spice bag is then added to the sugar, vinegar, and water to create the sauce that is poured over the cucumbers.
The pickles are then ready for canning!
Enjoy!