I bet you think you know what a jar of pickles looks like. But, unless you've had real homemade pickles I doubt you know how messy and icky looking pickles really are. First, they don't come in green tinted watery looking liquid. Real pickles look less than pretty and the water they swim in is downright ugly. It has stuff floating in it and I don't mean bits of herbs and spices.

How about ketchup, spaghetti sauce, butter, meat...? Ever seen those without the proper commercial preparation? Did you know spaghetti sauce isn't that lovely red colour when you make it yourself. Not unless you add colouring. Same with that meat in your favourite grocery store.

It's not pretty when it's homemade. Cakes come out lopsided, butter is not such a pretty yellow and well.. I don't want to worry you. Most people will never see the real food, the homemade, unprocessed versions. The downside of that is that people don't recognize it when it is available. Would you buy pickles in a cloudy jar? Or would you think those had something wrong with them?

Here is a pickle recipe. See, I did include a how-to!

Olde-time Pickle Recipe

Courtesy of the Gibson House Museum, North York, Ontario Original Recipe From: Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management First published in 1859

Ingredients:

To 6 quarts of vinegar allow: 1 lb. of salt ¼ lb. of ginger 1 oz. of mace ½ lb. of shallots 1 tablespoon of cayenne 1 oz. of mustard seed 1½ oz. of turmeric. Mode:

Boil all the ingredients together for about 20 minutes. When cold, put them into a jar with whatever vegetables you choose, such as radish-pods, French beans, cauliflowers, gherkins, etc. etc., as these come into season. Put them in fresh as you gather them, having previously wiped them perfectly free from moisture and grit. This pickle will be fit for use in about 8 or 9 months. Time:

20 minutes SEASONABLE Make the pickle in May or June to be ready for the various vegetables. Note:

As this pickle takes 2 or 3 months to make, that is to say, nearly that time will elapse before all the different vegetables are added, care must be taken to keep the jar which contains the pickle well covered, either with a closely fitting lid, or a piece of bladder securely tied over, so as perfectly to exclude the air.

20TH CENTURY ADDENDUM We always advise people that the preservation and storage techniques suggested in 19th Century recipes should be replaced with the most current methods recommended by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, if you plan to consume the product.

In this case, the spiced vinegar brine works well with a variety of vegetables. This year we have done beans, beets, cabbage and cucumber with onions, processed in Mason jars in a boiling water canner according to Ministry guidelines. Can the pickles all at once, don't spread the process over many months as they did in the 19th Century.

This recipe came from the CBC website: http://www.toronto.cbc.ca/freshair/freshcooking/recipe2a.jsp