Teach Them Young – Teach Them Well

Microwave Bread & Butter Pickles

Goodness, it's still at our house this morning. And so quiet, too. Our granddaughters headed back home yesterday afternoon. I don't even remember when they got here. But when they arrived, it felt like there was plenty of time for everything. They had lots of time for bike riding and tree swings and scooters. And there was time at the lake. 

And then very suddenly, it was like we needed to cram in a lot in a very little time. There were things we wanted to do but hadn't even talked about until a few days ago. So for the last couple of days it felt like a circus here as we tried to do it all.

Baby Girl was desperate to learn to sew. So desperate to do it "right now" that I grabbed a clean handkerchief from the laundry basket and we used that for practice. She learned to thread a needle, tie a knot in the thread and she learned how to do a running stitch and a whip stitch. 

At the same time that sewing was happening at the kitchen table, Little Sister was at the kitchen counter making pickles. We have been harvesting cucumbers from the garden faster than we can eat them. Little Sister did all the prep except slicing the cucumbers. She could have done it with a knife, but we needed to work faster, so I did them quickly with the mandolin. (That kitchen tool is SO sharp that I ended up in the ER once myself after I sliced my finger along with the vegetables.) But she measured everything else and mixed it all together and took care of the microwave part. 

The next morning we were back at work. Baby Girl learned about different types of buttons and how to sew them while her sister was putting pickles into jars. All of this was happening while Mommy and J-Daddy were packing their car. A circus, I tell you!

This pickle recipe is so easy. It's so quick. It's so good. And it comes with such special memories attached to it. A dear friend gave me the recipe years ago. I remember reading her directions and not understanding her notes about the microwave part. I called her and asked for clarification. It was one of those things that was so simple–if you knew how to do it. So I rewrote the recipe for the rest of us who hadn't already made these pickles a zillion times. 

My friend Bev was sadly one of the million people that we lost to Covid. But I feel like she is watching from above and smiling that her recipe is being passed down to another generation. She was one of the kindest, most generous people I ever knew. Everyone who knew her loved her. And we all miss her.

It makes me smile to see all of the things these girls have learned to do here at the farm. Little Sister was making muffins last week. She found a recipe online and made them without supervision. I did walk through the kitchen while she was wearing her apron and filling muffin cups. She grinned at me. "Look. I'm Mini Mimi!" 

Before you ask, I don't have a comparable recipe for dill pickles. I just make these sweet pickles.

MICROWAVE BREAD & BUTTER PICKLES

1 cup sugar 

1 cup white vinegar 

2 teaspoon salt 

1 teaspoon dry minced garlic 

1 teaspoon mustard seeds 

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds 

1/2 teaspoon tumeric 

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced thin 

2-3/4 to 3 lbs pickling cucumbers, sliced (about 8 cups)

Mix everything except onion and cukes in a large microwave safe bowl. Stir in onions and cukes. Microwave 9 minutes on high, stopping to stir, as the timer counts down, at 6-1/2 minutes to go and at 4 minutes to go.

Remove and allow to cool. Cover and refrigerate overnight before placing in jars. Store in fridge. 

NOTE: SPICES WILL STAIN A PLASTIC BOWL OR SPOON OR KITCHEN COUNTER!

Yield: 6 to 7 half pint jars  (We got 8 jars this time.)

I used a scale (kitchen scale or postal scale) to weigh the cucumbers. I learned that three cucumbers from the garden weighed roughly one pound. So I sliced nine cucumbers and measured them---just about 8 cups. I used a 2-1/2 quart Corningware casserole for the cooking part. It looked like it was nearly too small when I added cucumbers and the onion (had to leave out a few cukes.) But as they cooked in the microwave, they started to cook down.

I was telling my book club friends about our flurry of activity at the end of our grandchildren time and it prompted those ladies to start talking about learning to embroider and cook from their grandmothers. Besides teaching my grandchildren life skills this week, we made some deep memories. Two extremely valuable things to do.

***The graphic is from a book called The Beauty of What Remains: How Our Greatest Fear Becomes Our Greatest Gift by by Steve Leder. I ordered this last night, so haven't read it yet, but read many excellent reviews.