Shepard Family Pickle Recipe

This recipe comes from Lew, it can be adapted for small batches.


"This is a pickle recipe that my mother used to make. She usually forgot to put all of the sugar in them and they turned out quite sour and very HOT. I loved them and they made me perspire on the top of my head. she never put them in jars. The crock was on the dirt floor in the cellar and we ate them over a period of time, taking them directly from the crock."

300 small cucumbers, about 1 and 1/2 inches long
1 Cup salt
Boiling water
1/2 gallon cider vinegar
4 T sugar
4 T salt
4 T dried mustard
1/2 cup whole mixed pickling spice
3 lbs sugar

Scrub cucumbers, rinse well and place in crock, add the cup of salt and enough boiling water to cover. Let stand over night and in the morning drain and wipe each cucumber. Mix sugar, salt & mustard together. Add vinegar and spices( spices may go in loose or tied in cheese cloth). Stir well. add cucumbers. Cover well. For the next 16 days , add 1/2 cup sugar, stirring until dissolved. When all sugar has been added, place pickles in jars, cover with the cold liquid and seal.