On Tuesday mornings, at the break of dawn, all of the Sisters, Novices and Postulants divide and conquer the larger vegetable gardens in our community.  That’s about 30 of us in each garden, with a small team of older sisters staying behind to make breakfast.  In one hour, we are astounded at how much gets done – hauling off wheel barrows full of weeds to the compost pile and bringing in tubs of fresh veggies for the week ahead.  The older Sisters teach the younger ones about suckering tomatoes and the younger ones have the strong backs to dig and till.   Stories are told about the early days, and new ones are made – it’s Sisterhood life at its best.

This week, we got a bumper crop of Japanese cucumbers in – thin, long and crunchy –a welcome sight after a long winter of frozen vegetables!  With the volume of cukes coming in, we opted to make our favorite sweet pickles.  For many years, we have been making this special recipe and giving them as gifts at Christmastime.  Now we are about to let you in on a big secret recipe that has stayed within the walls of our Convent for over 30 years.  Enjoy and Happy Gardening!

“Just to be is a blessing.  Just to live is holy.”  –   Rabbi Abraham Heschel

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The Convent’s Famous Bread and Butter Pickles

SERVINGS 4-5quart jars CHANGE SERVING SIZE quart jars

COOK TIME 10min.

PREP TIME 1hr.

READY IN 11hrs.

Ingredients

• 11 lbs. cucumbers sliced, not peeled
• 6 onion(s) medium, thinly sliced
• 2 bell pepper(s) green, chopped (optional)
• 1/3 cup coarse salt
• 1.5 tsp. tumeric
• 1.5 tsp. celery seed
• 2 tbsp. mustard seeds
• 3 cups cider vinegar

Instructions

1. Thinly slice the onions and cucumbers. Chop the peppers (if adding).
2. Combine cucumbers, onions, peppers and salt in a large bowl and cover with cracked ice. Mix thoroughly and allow to sit at room temperature for 3 hrs. or until the ice melts. Drain thoroughly but do not rinse.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large pot and heat just until boiling.
4. Add the Cucumber and onion mixture and cook just a bit.
5. Sterilize 5 quart size jars in boiling water.
6. Add the pickles to the jar, followed by the juice. You may not need all the juice you have.
7. Seal jars and process in a water bath.