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60–80 scrubbed tiny cucumbers (1½ to 2½ inches long)

Combine the vinegar, mustard, sugar, and salt. Pour into a clean gallon jar or container.

Add the cucumbers. Let stand for 7 days in a cool place.

Fill the canner with hot tap water. Sterilize jars by boiling in the canner for 10 minutes. Prepare lids. Meanwhile, drain the pickles and save the brine. Pack the pickles in the jars. Fill the jars with the saved brine to cover the pickles. Leave ½-inch headspace.

Process for 10 minutes in the preheated boiling-water-bath canner. Start counting time as soon as water returns to boiling.

Cool sealed jars. Check seals. Remove screw bands. Label. Store.

tip If you do not have enough small pickles for a full batch, pick the cucumbers daily as they come along and add to the brine. After each gallon jar is filled, let it stand 7 days before processing in pints. Process pints for 10 minutes.

Dilly Beans

Makes 4 pints

2½ cups vinegar

2½ cups water

¼ cup pickling salt

2 pounds green beans, trimmed

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 cloves garlic

4 heads dill

Preheat hot tap water in the canner and teakettle. Prepare lids. Sterilize pint-size canning jars.

In a saucepan, mix the vinegar, water, and salt. Heat to boiling.

Pack the beans in hot jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. To each pint, add ¼ teaspoon cayenne, 1 clove garlic, and 1 head dill. Pour hot liquid over beans, leaving ¼-inch headspace.

Process for 10 minutes once water has returned to a boil.

Cool jars. Check seals. Remove screw bands. Label. Store.

Pickled Beets

Makes 7 pints

10–12 pounds beets

1 quart cider vinegar

2/3 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 tablespoons pickling salt

pickled beets

Cut the tops and roots off flush with the beets. Scrub thoroughly.

Place the beets on a rack in a large roaster. Cover and bake at 400°F until tender, about 1 hour for medium-sized beets. Meanwhile, preheat hot tap water and jars in the canner. Prepare lids.

In a saucepan, mix the vinegar, sugar, water, and salt. Heat to boiling.

When the beets are tender, fill the roaster with cold water. When cool enough to handle, slip the skins of the beets.

Pack the beets, whole or cut, in hot jars. Add brine to cover. Leave ½-inch headspace.

Process for 30 minutes once water has returned to a boil.

Cool jars. Check seals. Remove screw bands. Label. Store.

Busy Person’s Relish-Sauce-Chutney

Makes 14 pints and 7 half-pints

This recipe makes three great-tasting sauces: Indian Relish, a spicy sauce to eat with meats (makes a great Thousand Island salad dressing); Sweet-and-Sour Sauce, to use with meat, poultry, and seafood (especially good with Chinese or Polynesian dishes); and Chutney, fantastic with everything. It’s very easy to make, but takes a little longer than other recipes. This is a good project for a free day.

Relish

24 large tomatoes (4 quarts purée)

24 large apples

18 large onions (7 cups chopped)

2 quarts cider vinegar

6 cups sugar

2/3 cup pickling salt

2 teaspoons ground cloves

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons dry mustard

Sweet-and-Sour Additions

7 cups peach preserves

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

Chutney Additions

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped walnuts

Purée tomatoes in a hand-cranked strainer to make 4 quarts. Peel, core, and coarsely chop apples. Peel and chop onions to make 7 cups. Mix in a large roaster or preserving kettle with vinegar, sugar, salt, cloves, red pepper, cinnamon, and dry mustard.

Bring to a boil and simmer until thick, about 2 hours. Meanwhile, fill the canner with hot tap water sterlize jars by boiling the canner for 10 minutes. Prepare lids.

Ladle hot sauce into 7 hot pint-size jars. Leave ½-inch headspace.

Process for 10 minutes once water has returned to a boil. While the jars are processing, add the peach preserves, garlic powder, and Tabasco to the remaining sauce and reheat to boiling.

Fill 7 pint-size jars, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove the relish jars and reheat the canner.

Process