I’m a little later than I’d hoped in getting up the pear butter winner, but having one’s wedding just five days away tends to derail even the most heart-felt intentions. However, I do have a winner to announce and it’s none other than “Another Marisa,” the commenter who has renamed herself so as not to get confused with me. Yay Marisa! I’ll be emailing you shortly to get all your details so that I get you this butter sooner rather than later.
Now, I want to warn you all that posting is going to be sort of poky for the next couple of weeks or so. I’m getting married to my favorite guy this coming Saturday and so my brain is almost entirely filled with last-minute details, travel schedules and a concerted effort to shake the cold that’s been trying to gain foothold in my sinuses. I have a post on canning whole tomatoes that I’m going to try and get up before the big day, but I make no promises.
However, I do want to say, for those of you who are still battling the zucchini glut, that they make wonderful, if slightly less crisp pickles. I made a batch of seven pints recently, using the exact same brine that I use for my garlic dills and they are wonderful. They are particularly good in sandwiches, because they are a bit more yielding to the tooth than many cucumber pickles. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by squash, it’s a good way to conquer at least three or four good-sized zukes (yellow squash also works).
Zucchini Pickles
Ingredients
- 3-4 large zucchini sliced into fat coins*
- 4 cups apple cider vinegar
- 4 cups water
- 5 tablespoons pickling salt
- 14 garlic cloves** peeled (2 per jar)
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper per jar***
- 1 teaspoon dill seed per jar
- ½ teaspoon black peppercorns per jar
Instructions
- Wash and slice the zucchini.
- In a large saucepot, combine vinegar, water and salt. Bring to a simmer.
- Arrange jars on counter and dole out the spices to each. Pack the zucchini slices firmly into the jars. You don’t want to damage them, but you do want them packed tight.
- Pour the brine into the jar, leaving ½ inch headspace.
- Wipe rims, apply lids and rings and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
- When 10 minutes are up, promptly remove the jars from the pot and allow them to cool on the countertop. When the jars are cool, check the seals (by pushing/tapping on the lid).
- Pickles can be stored in a cool, dry place for up to a year.
- If you want to skip the boiling water process, these pickles are also wonderful as refrigerator pickles. Just pop the jars into the fridge once they’re cool.
I do not have zucchini, but I’m drying peppers out the wazoo….Congrats on your wedding though, I’m sure it will be beautiful!
Have a wonderful wedding!!
I got the Raspberry Jam last week and it is simply delicious. Thank you for sharing.
Yay for the wedding! Have a wonderful time!
I canned some seckle pears this weekend thanks to your suggestion. They tasted wonderful and I can’t wait to eat them later.:)
Take in all the details you can at your wedding. May you be blessed with many years of happiness.
Congrats on your wedding. Enjoy the day and have a blessed marriage.
Have an amazing time this weekend!! Congratulations and best wishes! The details seem daunting at the end, but your day will be fabulous even if the details don’t all fall into place. We will see some photos, right?! We’ll all be thinking of you 🙂
Just found your blog and am so excited to read about canning. But, more importantly, have a wonderful wedding day and many congratulations!
Yay! Thank you! Now I feel slightly less sad about how little time I’ll have for canning in the next few weeks. Yum.
Also: congratulations!
Mazel tov on your wedding! I just cooked up a huge carton of concord grapes from a neighbor’s yard today, and now the strained juice is slowwwwly draining through cheesecloth in the fridge. When I can it this weekend, I’ll be sure to drink a toast in your honor.
I love zucchini pickles, I usually use the recipe from Zuni cafe, it’s kind of bread & butter. This sounds great though, since my cukes are done producing I may pick up a few zukes at the market and make a few of these.