My mother taught me to can.  I am teaching my daughter to can, too.  My garden is starting to hit its stride, thus, my three cucumber plants went completely bonkers and I had a pile of cucumbers to contend with.  There's only so much cucumber salad any one family can eat, so while I was a pound shy on cucumbers to make a triple batch of my mother's bread and butter pickles, I added more onion and off to the races I went.

The recipe is here. I put dried hot chile's into a few bottles, but other than that, here's the recipe from my mother.

BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES

6 lbs. cucumbers (about 4 inches long) thinly sliced, do not pare

4 large onions, sliced

2 green peppers, sliced

½ cup salt—do not use iodized salt

5 cups cider vinegar

5 cups sugar

1 ½ teaspoons turmeric

2 tablespoons mustard seed

2 tablespoons plus two teaspoons celery seed

16 whole cloves (I used a teaspoon)

Mix together the cucumbers, onion, green pepper and salt in a large bowl or earthenware crock. (Can use stainless steel pot, but not aluminum) Cover vegetables with with small ice cubes. Cover with a weighted plate and set aside about three hours. Drain.

Meanwhile, blend vinegar and remaining ingredients together in a large kettle.

Add drained vegetables and set over medium heat. Heat thoroughly, but do not boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden or stainless steel spoon.

Pack into sterilized jars and seal.

Makes 8 pints.