new batch of bread & butter pickles with extra juice

The vegetables were:

the process

I cut up the cucumbers and tossed them with salt, then set them aside while I set up everything else. I cut up one brown onion thinly, and a red pepper into spears, but not as thin as the onion. 

 Then, I mixed up the spices

 For spices I added:

• mustard seeds,
• celery seeds
• ground cinnamon
• ground coriander
• 3 cloves per jar
• ground allspice. 

I added turmeric at the end because I forgot to add it in the spice mixture.

I washed the jars in hot water and then rinsed the cucumbers in cold water a couple of times to get off the salt and tossed the juices that came out. I put the spices in the jars and layered the cucumbers with the onions and peppers in about 3 layers. 

I boiled a mix of apple cider vinegar and white vinegar, roughly 1.5:1 (had to make a second batch, which is why I ended up with too much) and as much brown sugar as vinegars - so for every cup of vinegar it was a cup of sugar. 

I poured the vinegar solutions over the veg in the jars, and capped the jars. I'm allowing them to cool in these photos. 

I'm not sealing these - they are going straight into the fridge.

Yes, that's my messy kitchen in the background. I tore it apart looking for my spices. It will be cleaned up in a few minutes, but I wanted you to know you can do this yourself, and it only takes a few minutes.

Why did I save the extra pickle juice?

I can use it for other things - like eggs, cucumbers, radishes (later this week), or just to drink.

If I were a purist, I would use canning jars all the time, but as long as the jars are clean and without cracks, I'll reuse them for something like this. If I were going to seal them, I'd use canning jars-- for a better guarantee of a shelf life. 

I used some as a glaze for my pork, apple and onion sheet pan meal. I simmered it low while the oven did it's work, and poured the result over the food when it was done. No leftovers tonight!