Crispy Sweet Pickles

It’s been a long time since I last made these pickles, about 10 years. My family has asked me over the years if I would make them again I just never got around to making them. Ariel says she can remember coming home from school and eating them out of the refrigerator. My memories for these pickles are also from when I was a little girl. I use the same recipe today that my stepmom Gen would also use to make hers all those years ago. I remember the pots of sliced cucumber soaking in lime sitting on the washing machine in the garage and the smell of the cucumbers cooking in the brine days later. I first learned how to can from  my stepmom; she would also can string beans and tomatoes. The canner that I use today is the same one that I bought 26 years ago when Richard and I were married; I believe I just might be using the same jars too.

Crispy Sweet Pickles
25 to 30 small cucumbers
2 cups lime (calcium hydroxide)
2 gallons water
2 quarts white vinegar
8 cups sugar
2 teaspoons whole cloves
1 teaspoon salt

Slice cucumbers about 1/8-inch thick. Dissolve lime in water and cover cucumber slices. Let stand 24 hours.
Rinse well. Let stand 3 hours in clear water. Drain. Mix the vinegar, sugar, cloves and salt and pour over cucumbers. Let stand overnight. In the morning bring to a boil and boil 35 to 40 minutes. Fill sterilized Kerr jars to within ½ inch of top with cucumbers and syrup. Put on cap, screw band firmly tight. Process jars in a boiling water bath canner; 10 minutes for pints, or 15 minutes for quarts. Yield: 10 pints or 5 quarts