MMMMMustard Pickles

My brother wanted me to post my recipe for mushroom dip but since I made mustard pickles last night I figured I post Aunt Lu's recipe for Mustard Pickles.

Aunt Lu was my Dad's aunt and I understand that she used to make these in the basement of her house on Maple Street.  They have always been a family favorite at Thanksgiving.  If you grew up eating these you love them if you didn't grow up with them, well, you might like them.  Personally, I like them, I just don't LOVE them the way some people do.  My brothers really love them, especially Gil.  My uncle Mark loves them too.  In fact I usually ship him a couple of bottles when I make them and he couldn't be happier.  One year I sent him a package and he sent me a check for $50 back!  I really didn't send them to him because I expected anything in return, but he actually won the lottery (a really big lottery too) several years ago, so I didn't make a fuss about the check.

I make these pickles because they make the people I love so happy.  If I have extra sauce left over after filling all the jars with pickles I fill a jar with the just the mustard sauce and give it to my Aunt Peg...she loves it.  I think it would be good on bbq pork ribs.

Here is the recipe the way that it was given to me.  I think my Aunt Bonnie or my Aunt DeeDee gave me the copy that I have.  Last night, I followed it pretty close but instead of 1 head of cauliflower I put in 2 heads of cauliflower and added a few cups more of vinegar.  I used Asian cucumbers that I bought at Costco, I hope that those work out well because they were really easy to clean and cut.  I also use pearl onions that I find in the frozen section at my grocery store.  Using these onions helps reduce the amount of labor.  It can take several hours just to peel enough onions!

Mustard Pickles
4    quarts      Cucumbers (cut the ends off and discard.  Cut with a waffle cutter)
1     large        Cauliflower
2                     Green or red peppers (I use red because I think the color helps)
1    quart       Small white pearl onions
1     cup         Salt
                       Boiling water
1    quart        Vinegar
6    Tblsp       Dry mustard
2    tsp.           Turmeric (gives it the yellow color)
3    cups         Brown sugar
3    Tblsp       Prepared Mustard (you know...hot dog mustard)
1    cup           Flour

Cut and prepare cucumbers, cauliflower, peppers and onions.  Sprinkle veggies with salt, cover with boiling water and let stand 2 hours or more.  Drain and rinse.

In a large kettle combine vinegar, dry mustard, brown sugar and prepared mustard.  Bring to a boil, add vegetables to the syrup.  Simmer 15 minutes.

Make a paste of flour, a little vinegar and add to the boiling mixture until thickened.

Pack in sterilized jars and process 5 minutes using standard processing methods.

Note:  My mother told me that they were best if you let them sit in the jar for at least a month before you eat them.  The flavors a supposed to get better that way.  I don't know about that.  I just tasted a couple of the pickles that were left over and they were pretty good!