In the morning the vegetables were well drained in the colander and one and three-fourths quarts of vinegar was brought to the boiling point.
Adding the pickles, Adelaide let them cook until they were perfectly tender, next she added one and one-fourth cups of sugar and two teaspoons of celery seed.
Mixing together one-fourth of a pound of English mustard, one-fourth of an ounce of turmeric powder and three-eighths of a cup of flour with one cup of vinegar (added gradually so that it made a smooth paste) Adelaide poured this over the pickles and stirred with the wooden spoon until it just thickened.
The sterilized jars were filled at once to overflowing, the silver knife inserted to let all air bubbles rise to the top and break, and the new rubbers fitted on smoothly. Sealing them quickly, Adelaide stood the jars upside down out of the way of any draft.
The next morning, after carefully inspecting each jar to see that it did not leak, she wiped off the outsides with a damp cloth, pasted on the labels and stored away in the preserve closet.
Ripe Cucumber Pickles
| Ripe cucumbers, | 21/3 lbs. |
| Salt, | 1 tablespoon |
| Water, | 1 quart |
| Sugar, | 2 cups |
| Vinegar, | 2/3 cup |
| Whole cloves, | 1 teaspoon |
| Stick cinnamon, | 1 stick |
Adelaide washed and wiped the cucumbers, cut them in quarters lengthwise and each quarter in halves. These she weighed, then placed in an earthenware bowl and covered with a weak brine made of one quart of cold water and one tablespoon of salt.
After allowing them to stand for twelve hours, she rinsed the cucumbers thoroughly in several waters, then steamed them for twenty minutes. Putting the two-thirds of a cup of vinegar, the two cups of sugar, the teaspoon of whole cloves and the stick of cinnamon (broken in small pieces) into a saucepan, Adelaide boiled them for five minutes; adding the cucumbers she let them simmer for twenty minutes.
Removing the saucepan, she covered it and stood it away until the next day, when she lifted out the cucumbers with a silver fork and placed them in the sterilized pint jars. The syrup she boiled for five minutes, then poured at once into the jars so that it overflowed. Next she inserted the silver knife to let all air bubbles rise to the top and break, fitted on the new rubbers smoothly, sealed quickly and stood upside down out of the way of any draft.