Mary Ann's Sweet Pickles

CelestialShannon's Note:

This is a family favorite. We put these in kidney bean salad, tuna salad, etc.. They turn out looking kind of funny but the taste is die for.. Please let me know if this is too hard to grasp.. tried to explain best I could.

• Total Time: 312 hrs
• Prep Time: 240 hrs
• Cook Time: 72 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 75

Yield: 75.0 pickles

• 75 small cucumbers
• 1 cup canning salt
• 5 cups sugar
• 5 cups vinegar (5% brown)
• 1 ounce pickling spices
• 1 ounce celery seed
• 1 tablespoon alum
• cheese cloth
• 1 large stone jar

Directions:

1. Put cucumbers in a stone jar ( or very large tupperware) with cold water with 1 cup canning salt. Let sit covered for one week. Be sure cucumbers are submerged by placing a plate or something on them and then something heavy on top like a mason jar filled with water.
2. Drain.
3. Cover for one day with fresh boiling hot water. (Day 8).
4. On 9th day cut/ split the cucumbers. Cover for second day with alum and fresh boiling water.
5. On 10th day make your syrup.
6. Combine pickling spice and celery seed in cheese cloth, bring to boil with sugar and vinegar.
7. Cover cucumbers with the syrup. If this amount does not cover make additional syrup by just adding 1 cup sugar to 1 cup vinegar until cucumbers are covered. Again be sure all pickles are submerged in syrup.
8. For a total of three days cover each morning with BOILING hot syrup.
9. (10th day cover with boiling hot syrup).
10. (11th day drain syrup back into pot and bring to boil and cover again with same syrup boiling hot).
11. 12th day (repeat day 11) transfer to jars and put in the refrigerator or can in jars.