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Sweet-and-Sour Spiced Crabapples

5 pints

3 pounds firm ripe crabapples (about)

3 dozen whole cloves

Four to six 3-inch sticks of cinnamon

6 short blades of mace or 1 small nutmeg, crushed

3 cups cider vinegar

3 cups water

2¼ cups sugar

To prepare the crabapples, rub the fuzz from the blossom ends, but leave stems on; wash well, then prick the skins with a large darning needle to keep the fruit from bursting while cooking. Tie the spices loosely in a square of muslin or double thickness of cheesecloth, and put the bag in a large enameled or stainless steel kettle with the vinegar, water, and sugar; bring to boiling and boil together for 3 minutes. Add the crabapples and simmer until just tender—not mushy. (Test after 15 minutes by poking one deeply with a darning needle: there should be a little resistance.) Discard the spice bag, and pack the crabapples immediately in hot pint jars and cover them with the very hot syrup in which they were cooked, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Adjust the lids and process the jars in a Boiling–Water Bath (212 F/100 C) for 20 minutes. Remove; complete seals if using bailed jars.

• Adjustment for my altitude _________________.

Green Tomato Pickles

6 pints

7½ pounds green tomatoes (about 30 medium)

6 good-size onions

¾ cup pickling salt

½ lemon

2 sweet red peppers

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 tablespoon whole allspice

1 tablespoon mustard seed

1 tablespoon whole cloves

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

2 cups packed brown sugar (1 pound)

3 cups cider or distilled white vinegar (approx. 5 percent acidity)

Wash tomatoes well, cut off blossom ends, blemishes, and stems. Slice thin crossways. Peel and slice onions in thin rings. Sprinkle salt over alternate layers of sliced tomatoes and onions in an earthenware dish, and let stand in a cool place overnight. Drain off the brine, rinse the vegetables thoroughly in cold water, and drain well. Slice the lemon thinly and remove the seeds; wash the peppers well, remove stems and seeds, slice thinly crossways. Tie all the spices loosely in muslin or a double layer of cheesecloth, add the spice bag and the sugar to the vinegar in a large enameled or stainless steel kettle; bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, onions, lemon, and peppers. Cook for 30 minutes after the mixture returns to a boil, stirring gently to prevent scorching. Remove the spice bag, pack the pickles in hot pint jars, and cover with boiling-hot liquid, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Adjust lids. Process in a Boiling–Water Bath (212 F/100 C) for 15 minutes. Remove jars; complete seals if using bailed jars.

• Adjustment for my altitude _________________.

Quick Dill Pickles

7 pints

30 to 40 medium pickling-type cucumbers, 5 inches long

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup pickling salt

1 quart distilled white vinegar

1 quart water

(Optional: 3 tablespoons mixed whole pickling spices)

7 fresh dill heads

(Optional: 7 garlic cloves)

Mix together the sugar, salt, vinegar, and water and bring to a boil. Tie optional pickling spices loosely in a thin white cloth and boil in the vinegar mixture for about 10 minutes; remove and discard. Scrub cucumbers, remove stems and blossom ends; cut lengthwise in halves or quarters, not longer than the shoulder-height of the jar. Put 1 whole head of fresh dill in each clean hot jar. Pack the jars with cut cucumbers upright, then tuck in a clove of garlic if you like it. Pour in the boiling vinegar mixture, leaving ½ inch of headroom. Adjust lids. Process using the low-temperature pasteurization treatment, page 320, or in a Boiling–Water Bath (212 F/ 100 C)—10 minutes for pints, 15 minutes for quarts. Remove jars; complete seals if using bailed jars.

• Adjustment for my altitude if B–W processing _________________.

Sweet Mustard Pickle

4 quarts

1 quart small green tomatoes, quartered

1 quart tiny unpeeled cucumbers (about 2 inches)

1 quart unpeeled medium cucumbers in 1-inch chunks

1 quart tiny pickling onions

1 small head cauliflower, broken into flowerets