If you’re one of the millions of Americans who are vowing to lose weight this coming year, take heart — there are things you can do to help yourself reach your goals. Follow the New Years Resolution Diet Tips in this article and the chances are good that you’ll be shopping for new clothes in smaller sizes by Valentine’s Day — if not before!

Choose the New Years Resolution Diet That’s Best for You

As my grandma used to say, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat,” (Yeah, Grandma was kind of scary like that), and there’s more than one way to lose weight and eat better, so find the one that works best for you. 

If you’re a vegetarian or committed to living a vegan lifestyle, the Atkins Low Carb, high protein diet might not be the best one for you.  On the other hand, if you just can’t see yourself going cold turkey on meat and instantly making the switch from carnivore to herbivore, you might want to consider the Atkins or the South Beach diet, which still allow you to eat plenty of meat, chicken and fish.

Do some research before you dive in.  Consult your friends who have successfully lost weight to see what’s worked for them or browse through the bookstore.  While you’re at it, check out some of the popular diet programs that are making the rounds on the Internet only.

The Strip That Fat and Diet Solution programs are popular, while the Master Cleanse Diet has been used by celebrities such as David Blaine, Beyonce, and Robin Quivers.  The best thing about the Internet programs is that you can access them instantly and most come with a 30 to 60 day money back guarantee.

Give Yourself a Chance to Succeed

Many small businesses fail for no other reason than they don’t start off with enough money in the bank to survive any hard times.  Everyone needs a safety zone.  You’re going to get knocked down, but you have to have the safety net below you that will cushion your fall.

The first time I tried the South Beach Diet, I failed miserably because I got incredibly hungry, and when I did the only snacks that I had in the house were those of the high carb variety.  Eventually, I gave into my hunger, pigged out, and ended up worse than I started.

BUT… I learned from my mistake and before I started the diet again, I made sure that I had enough “capital” in the bank in the form of South Beach approved snacks such as string cheese, pistachios, and green apples with peanut butter.  With this preparation, I was able to stick to the diet and see the results I’d been hoping for.

Plan for the Bad Times

Business writer Brian Tracy recommends that when you set a goal, along with sitting down ahead of time and writing out a Master List everything you have to do in order to achieve that goal, that you also write down all the obstacles that are standing in your way and develop strategies for dealing with them. 

One suggestion is to sit down with a calendar and look at the social occasions and business functions in the months ahead where you might be tempted to cheat.  Will you be traveling and forced to eat on the run?  Will there be any particularly stressful times where you may turn to food?  If you’re a student this could be final exams, for an accountant, it could be tax time, and for a sales person, it could be the end of the month or quarter. 

How will you combat these times?  Will you exercise more and eat extra carefully leading up to these days so that you can moderately “indulge” on that special occasion?  Will you call ahead to the banquet hall or restaurant to see which dietary alternatives they have for that social function?  Will you stock up on good snacks or plan meals ahead of time to avoid grabbing something quick while you’re on the go? 

Whatever answers you come up with for these questions, write them down and break them into the action steps that you need to take in order to make them a reality.  Then, plan out these steps, prioritize them and get busy checking them off your list.

Get an Accountability Partner — But Choose Wisely

Certainly, it helps to have a someone to hold you accountable to your goals, and you should have such a person — or network of people — like that in your life.  People who know what you’re going through and can pick you up when you’re feeling down or just listen while you vent. 

When picking these people, however, realize that there are the right people and the wrong people to trust as accountability partners.  The best accountability partners are the ones who are either going through the same thing as you or have already gone through the same thing.  Think Alcoholics Anonymous or any other support group.

The two types of people to avoid, however, are the haters and enablers.  Both types feel threatened by your ability to make positive changes in your life.  The haters will put you down for it, while the enablers will try to playfully sabotage your efforts by getting you to fall off the wagon.

Acknowledge EVERY Success and Victory

Before you can reach the big victories, you’ve got to celebrate the little ones.  When you plan and prepare meals ahead of time, consciously avoid junk food, or even don’t cheat as bad as you could have make a note of it and give yourself a pat on the back. 

Better yet, plan out some rewards ahead of time.  For example, indulge in a favorite activity or buy yourself a little gift for sticking to your new way of eating for three days or for reaching a certain weight loss goal.  Every victory that you celebrate will boost your confidence and propel you forward toward the new you.

Finally, Persist Until You Reach Your Goals!

Though most New Year’s Resolution Diets don’t make it past half time of the Super Bowl at the end of January, by following these tips you’ll make it possible to stick to your guns and meet all your fitness and weight loss goals for 2009 and beyond!  Good luck and bon appetit!

I love to cook and especially to bake, so I love the holiday season for making cookies and special breads to give as gifts. Here are a couple of ideas that make great gifts.

Pecan Sandies

This recipe makes a shortbread-like cookie with the great combination of cinnamon and pecans.

1 Cup butter, cut in pieces
1/3 Cup Sugar
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 1/4 Cups Flour
1 Cup Pecans chopped fairly fine
granulated sugar (about 1/3 cup for coating)

In a mixer, combine butter, sugar, water, and vanilla. Mix 30 seconds to creamy
smooth. Add cinnamon, mix in the flour by hand in increments, then add nuts. Dough will be very stiff.

Roll dough in 1″ balls, roll the balls in the granulated sugar, place the
sugared balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and criss-cross the tops with a
fork. Once pressed down, cookies will not spread much.

Bake at 325 degrees for 20 mins, or until the bottoms are lightly golden
brown.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Note: A trick for making more evenly-sized cookies is to divide the dough, wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap, and roll/squeeze it out into a 1″ diameter cylinder, then slice into evenly sized pieces before rolling the pieces into balls.

Honey Pecan Spread

1 Cup honey
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Cup finely chopped pecans

Place about 1/2 of the honey in a small 1 pint decorative canning jar. Add the lemon juice and cinnamon, stirring to combine. Add the nuts, stirring to coat. Top off with more honey, and carefully stir to integrate. Pop a decorative top on the jar and it is ready for gifting (or eating!)

Best after sitting for a couple of days for the flavors to harmonize. Serve on bagels or pancakes. It can also be poured over a block of cream cheese and used as a spread on crackers.

The flavors and fragrances of herbs enhance many of our favorite dishes. Knowing when to add herbs to recipes, and whether it’s best to use fresh or dried herbs can make all the difference in the potency and flavor. Many culinary schools teach aspiring chefs to add most fresh herbs to recipes near the end of the cooking time for a variety of reasons.

Using Fresh Herbs

Fresh basil’s sweet essence provides the best enhancement to recipes when added at the end of cooking time. Dill and tarragon also have the freshest flavor when used this way. However, chives don’t hold up when cooked and should be added just before serving. Any fresh herbs added near the end of cooking will have a more distinct flavor. When blending flavors during a longer cooking period, certain fresh herbs work well, while dried herbs can provide the essence needed and withstand the longer cooking period.

The strength of dried oregano’s flavor does well in recipes with a mix of other spices and seasonings such as chili, often a favorite dish in states like Louisiana and Texas. Be aware that fresh oregano is too mild to stand out in such assertive flavors. Thyme is another herb that can be used fresh or dried. It’s one of the few fresh herbs that can endure longer cooking times. However, the hearty flavor of fresh thyme subsides the longer it’s cooked, and you may wish to add a little more near the end of the cooking stage as well, for increased taste. Fresh rosemary lends itself easily to recipes that include long, slow braising, such as lamb and beef. Cooks discovered that although both fresh and ground sage could be used in various recipes, dried parsley just doesn’t have the flavor of fresh in any application. Dried herbs certainly provide convenience, and by following a few useful suggestions, you can consider them a handy staple in your kitchen.

Tips for Getting the Best Use of Dried Herbs

• Freshness is an important part of any ingredient, and when dried herbs are stale the flavor decreases. To test the freshness of your dried herbs, crush a small amount in your hand and sniff. If it doesn’t release a strong fragrance, it’s probably time to replace it.

• When using dried herbs don’t sprinkle them directly out of the container into a steaming pot. The steam can diminish the potency of the herb in the jar. Use a dry spoon to add the herbs to your recipe.

• Herbs such as oregano, basil, and thyme have flavorful oils that need to be released before adding them to the food. Crushing them in your hands or pushing them through a sieve over the food can accomplish this.

• When substituting dried herbs for fresh, a general rule of thumb is approximately 1 teaspoon of dried for each 3 teaspoons of fresh. Many chefs suggest that the type of dried herb used will affect the substitution. Unless ground dried herbs are used, a better ratio might be 1 teaspoon dried to 2 teaspoons fresh, and even that can vary depending on the coarseness of the dried herbs. As with all recipes, the amounts used can be adjusted to suit your own tastes.

When adding herbs, fresh or dried, to your favorite recipes, remember that the herb should enhance the food. No matter how much you enjoy the flavor of that particular herb, it should not completely overpower the natural flavor of the food. Instead, it should complement and blend with the other tastes.

Start with small increments until the appropriate flavor development is reached, and be selective in your combinations. With a little experimenting of your own, you’ll soon enjoy the taste sensations achieved with the addition of herbs to your favorite recipes.

Pie is a popular dessert during the holidays and there are a variety of pie types so you could have a different pie evey day of the week and still not run out of new recipes. While the fillings may change, the foundation for a great pie is a great pie crust.

Have you ever been served pie that has crust so tough you can’t get your fork through it? Sure, we all have. Well, here’s an easy pie crust recipe that makes crust that is always tender and flaky.

This recipe is for a 2 crust (one on top and one on bottom) 9 inch pie crust. You can halve this recipe for pies not requiring top crusts.

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 c solid shortening like Crisco (not oil, and not melted)
a few tablespoons of water.

OK, The most important step is how you measure the flour. Too much flour = tough crust.

Most people take the cup and dip it in the flour sack and level off the top with a knife or finger. This will usually get you more flour than you need because the flour packs down into the cup. Instead, spoon the flour into the cup and then level off with a knife.

Put the flour into a bowl along with the salt. Measure out the Crisco into the bowl. I usually use the Crisco sticks as they are much less messy to work with and it is easier to measure it by reading the measurements on the side of the foil.

Using a fork (or your fingers) cut the Crisco into the flour until the Crisco lumps are about the size of peas.

Next, add one tablespoon of water. (Yes. Only one. Too much water and you’ve got tough crust.) Pie crust recipes vary by how much humidity is in the air. In a damp climate, you may only need 2 tablespoons of water.

Using your hands, gather the dough mixture together. You don’t want to make a dough ball, you just want it to stick together. A good way to judge this is to put some of the dough mix in your hand and close it into a fist. If the dough sticks together, your mix is good, do not add more water. If it is just crumbly, you need to add another tablespoon of water.

Do not work with the dough mix very much because the more you mix the dough, the tougher it gets. Once it looks like dough, STOP MIXING. (It might even still look more like a loose flour mix at this point.)

Next, put a portion of the dough between 2 sheets of waxed paper and roll it out. You want to roll it out very thin so it is only about an 1/8″ thick. Piece the dough pieces into the pie pan, sticking the edges of the pie crust together so it covers everything. This is easier than trying to put together one huge piece of dough for the pie pan. Again, don’t work with your dough too much to prevent it from being tough.

Next, you’ll add your filler ingredients for your pie, bake and you’re done!

If you’re wondering about what to put in your pie, check out our apple pie or mixed berry pie recipe

Honey is nature’s perfect food: it is the only food that humans eat that harms neither plant nor animal in its production and consumption.

Honey is derived from plant nectar, with each individual honeybee contributing perhaps only 1/12 of a teaspoon to the hive’s honey production during her entire lifetime. Because there are so many different nectar sources being visited by a single hive of bees, even a single pound of produced honey will contain nectar from thousands and thousands of different flowers. In order to standardize the sale of honey, the USDA developed a set of standards for grading honey. As of 1985, these Standards are now in their fifth issue. According to the National Honey Board, honey is graded, on a voluntary basis, using these USDA standards.

There are 6 relevant factors in evaluating the honey’s grade (5 quality factors and color):

Key Relevance Factors for Grading Honey

• - Total Soluble Solids
• - Water Content
• - Flavor and Aroma
• - Clarity
• - Absence of Defects

  And

• - Color

The Analytical Factors
These factors may be determined directly through the use of laboratory tests.

The remaining key relevance factors are assigned subjective points which contribute to the overall score:

• Flavor and Aroma
  • - Good Flavor and aroma for the predominant floral source
  • - Reasonably good flavor and aroma for the predominant floral source
  • - Fairly good flavor and aroma for the predominant floral source
• Absense of Defects
  • - Practically Free
  • - Reasonably Free
  • - Fairly Free
• Clarity (used only for strained honey, not for filtered)
  • - Clear
  • - Reasonably Clear
  • - Fairly Clear

Each Grade has a range of score points for each Grade. For example, for Flavor and Aroma, the following points are assigned for each grade range:

Similar tests are applied to the other key relevance factors. In determining the overall score, there is another “gotcha”: in order to qualify for a given overall Grade, the honey must make a qualifying score for that Grade in BOTH the Absence of Defects, and Flavor and Aroma Factors. In addition the Clarity Factor must exceed the scores needed for Grade C in order to rate a Grade B or A overall score. In other words, making a B in the Clarity Factor points can still allow the honey to be graded A overall assuming it has the points), but the B and C point ranges for the other tests will limit a honey sample to that overall Grade.

In addition to the point limits discussed, the overall points needed are:

What About Color?
Color is not considered a Quality Factor, but is used in the designation of honey and uses the following scale:

• - Water White
• - Extra White
• - White
• - Extra Light Amber
• - Light Amber
• - Amber
• - Dark Amber

Because the components of the source nectar may color a batch of honey a given batch of wildflower honey may have the designation “Grade A Light Amber”. Honey from a white clover source might be “Grade A Water White.”

The Secret of Honey Selection
Picking a light colored honey is not a guarantee of getting a great tasting honey. Most beekeepers know that the best honey is strained, not filtered, and that honey from wildflowers, sourwood, citrus, and other varietals may have more flavor and taste than honey that has been filtered for maximum shelf life without granulation and that comes from a clover source that is sweet and clear, but tasteless and lacking character.

Seek out a small local honey producer, select honey that has been minimally processed (or give comb honey a try for a special treat), and enjoy some varietal honeys that you might not otherwise select – you may find that honey is a sweet treat that you want to make more a part of your eating lifestyle.

Autumn is one of the most beautiful seasons. With the foliage turning and birds migrating there is plenty to see when your outdoors. One special activity in the fall is apple picking. This is a great way to get out with the family or your significant other and have some fun. Then if you feel inspired you can bake with those yummy apples. Who wouldn’t want some warm apple pie or apple crisp on a cool autumn night? I know I would and that’s why I’ve put two of my favorite recipes together to share with you all!

Apple Crisp

In order to make an apple crisp large enough for eight people you will need eight of your yummy freshly picked apples. So figure in an apple per person and make the recipe larger or smaller as needed. Since it is relatively simple to make and only calls for seven ingredients you shouldn’t have too much to worry about. That makes it a reasonable task when preparing dinner too!

You will need the following ingredients;
• 8 medium apples
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ cup butter or 1 stick

To get started you will want to preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and take out your cutting board and apple cutter. I find the apple cutter (wedge/corer) the easiest way to prep the apples before cutting off the skin with a small knife.

Once you take the skin off all the apples, slice each wedge into three slices and place them in a small mixing bowl.

Then take your sugars, flour and spices and mix them with a whisk in a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Take the butter and melt it in a small saucepan. Once the butter is melted, pour over the dry ingredients and mix until it turns into a crumbly consistency.

Next take out your 2 quart baking dish (8 in x 11 in or there about) and spray with anti stick baking spray. Then evenly place all the sliced apples in the bottom of the dish and use your hands to spread the crumbly topping all over the top.

Place in the oven and bake for 35 – 40 minutes, take out and let cool 10 minutes. Then cut into 8 squares and serve alone or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Mmmm Mmmm Delicious!

Apple Pie

There is nothing like a warm slice of apple pie when the weather outside is cold a dreary. Also as a pick-me-up you can make a delicious apple pie for a friend or family member. As for the filling I’m all set but I personally struggle making pie crust and find it a lot easier to get a pack of two deep dish pie crusts at the supermarket. Either way, it is all in how much time and skill you have for setting and rolling out the dough. Don’t worry if you can’t make it yourself because those pie crusts taste delicious!

To make apple pie filling you will need the following ingredients;
• 6 medium sized apples
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup packed brown sugar
• ¼ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 egg
• ¼ teaspoon salt

To get started making this delicious pie you will want to pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, remove your pie crust from the freezer and take out your cutting board and apple cutter. Just like in the apple crisp recipe you want to cut all your apples into wedges and then slice off the skin. Once ready, slice each wedge into three slices and place in your medium mixing bowl with the lemon juice.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, butter, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix the ingredients together thoroughly. Then add the apples to the other ingredients and make sure they are evenly coated.

Once ready to bake the pie put the apple mixture into one of the deep dish pie crusts.

Take the other pie crust and turn upside down so that it lays flat on the counter/table. Gently pull it off the counter/table and place on top of the full pie crust. Use your fingers to pinch the edges together and then cut an X in the middle with a knife.

Then you’re ready to make the egg topping by cracking one egg into a small bowl and putting the salt in. Whisk well and then pour on top of the pie.

Place the pie in the oven and bake for 25 minutes with foil on and then take the foil off and bake an additional 25 minutes. Take out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving either alone or with vanilla ice cream on top. Yummy!

With these two recipes you shouldn’t be able to waste any of those delicious hand-picked apples. Get out and have fun in the autumn with your friends or family and find an apple tree or orchard near by. Ask a neighbor if they have a tree or find a farm in the countryside. Either way it is a fun activity that gives you the perfect excuse to bake a delicious desert!

Around the Dakotas grows a thorny bush covered in little red berries. They call these tart little buggers buffalo berries. They are great for making into syrup, jam and pies. I went to the lake and harvested some recently and decided to make some syrup. It is a delicious addition on your pancakes or French toast and with the holidays approaching it can be a great gift as well. Keep reading for the recipe and directions on how to make this delicious syrup!

In order to get started you must first go and harvest some buffalo berries off the bushes. The best time of the year to get them is mid September to October when they are the sweetest. If you pick them earlier in the year they tend to be too tart. Make sure you bring out quart sized bags and fill two of them minimum.

The exact ingredients and materials you will need are;
• 2 quart sized bags full of buffalo berries (bull berries)
• 7 cups of water
• 6 cups of granulated sugar
• 4 pint sized jars with lids
• Strainer with small holes
• Large pot (5 qt minimum)
• Large wooden spoon
• Medium pot to catch juices
• Potato masher
• Metal or glass measuring cup

To begin, wash the berries thoroughly making sure to get rid of all the leaves and most of the branch that came with them. Then pour all the berries and the water into the large pot and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid burning the berries.

Once the berries are mushy, pour them into the strainer with another pot underneath to catch the juice and pulp. Make sure your strainer is not allowing seeds and skin through. If it is try one with smaller holes. I personally use my steamer pot because the holes are small enough to not let the seeds through. To get all the pulp and juices through use your potato masher to mash the berries into the holes. This will get as much as you can out of the berries. Then throw away the seeds and skins and keep the juice and pulp.

Fill your sink with scalding hot water and place the jars and disk part of the lids inside. This is to ensure the glass won’t break when you add the boiling juices later.

Measure out 6 cups of the pulp and juices you just squeezed out of the berries and put them in your large pot. Bring to a rapid boil stirring occasionally. Then add the 6 cups of sugar and boil for 5 to 6 minutes. While you are adding the sugar you must stir continuously or else it can burn on the bottom.

Once you are finished boiling for 5 to 6 minutes, remove the pot from the burner and set aside. Then take your jars out of the hot water in the sink and make sure all the water is out of them. Carefully pick up the pot of juices and sugar mixture and pour evenly into all four jars.

Finally you put wipe off the rims of the glass jars to ensure a clean seal and place the lids on top. Set the jars aside in an area with consistent temperature. You will hear the lids pop as they cool which creates a seal. Then once cooled you can tie pretty ribbon on the jars or decorate with cloth and string to give away as gifts.

There is a chance that the syrup could end up as jam if you did not add enough water or used too many berries due to the natural gelling pectin in the buffalo berries. Either way you can enjoy the syrup or jam on toast or pancakes. Good luck and enjoy!

Do you have some over-ripe bananas that you are about to throw away? Or kids that much down food the minute they walk into the door after school?

I have the perfect solution! Bake some delicious Monkey Bread Muffins. They are healthier than most sweet snacks and simply irresistible.

Keep reading to get the recipe with my special tips on how to make these yummy muffins!

You will need the following ingredients;
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 ½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 brown medium bananas (about 1 ½ cups mashed)
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup melted butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

To get started preheat your oven to 350 degrees and take out three mixing bowls (small, medium and large). Also you will need; beaters, a whisk, a rubber bowl scraper, a fork, a small saucepan, measuring cups and spoons, a muffin tin, muffin papers and a cooling rack.

To begin the batter peel your very ripe bananas and put them in the small mixing bowl. Then add the milk and vanilla extract. Use your whisk straight up and down to mash the bananas and mix the ingredients together. This will create an even consistency. Set aside.

In the medium mixing bowl add the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Mix these ingredients together thoroughly with a fork. Set aside.

Next put the stick of butter in your small saucepan on medium heat. Melt the butter thoroughly, making sure not to boil it or burn it. Then pour the butter into your large mixing bowl along with the sugar. Use your beaters and beat for about 3 minutes on high. Then add the eggs and beat for another 3 minutes on high.

Now you are ready to combine all three of your bowls.

To begin add the contents of the small mixing bowl into your large mixing bowl. Beat all these wet ingredients together for about 3 minutes. Then add part of the dry ingredients and beat 2-3 minutes until it is all mixed. Continue doing this until all the dry ingredients are mixed in.

The final step for the batter is to add the cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips and mix it in well with the rubber bowl scraper.

Then put your muffin papers in the muffin tin and use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to pour the batter into the muffin tin. Once the muffin tin is full, put it in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.

Carefully remove the muffins from the muffin tin 10 minutes after you take them out of the oven and put them on a cooling rack. Allow them to finish cooling for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. Then they are ready to eat! You should get 18 muffins from this recipe so double it or triple it if you need more.

I hope you enjoy these muffins as much as my husband and I do! Good luck baking them!

If you like this recipe you might also try these recipes:

Mixed Berry Pie Recipe with a divine mixture of blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. You can’t get much healthier than that.

Healthy Banana Nut Bread Recipe made with buttermilk, bananas, nuts and eggs. Very moist and freezes well so you can make it ahead of time.

Every year my grandmother would give me these delicious bread and butter pickles. Since we moved this past spring I was unable to get any from her so I decided to ask for her recipe and try it myself.

This recipe is a really great way to use up the last bunch of cucumbers from your garden or a bag from the farmer’s market. Either way the cucumbers are wax free which is necessary to make the pickles.

I hope you enjoy making and eating these bread and butter pickles as much as I do!

So the origination of this recipe comes from a book my grandmother has used for quite some time. It is titled; Guide to Home Canning and Freezing by the Ball Corporation. Since she put her specifics together for me, I’ve decided to share this delicious recipe with you.

Jarring is not something I had ever done until this experience so don’t feel bad if you are in the same boat! All you need are the pint jars with the lids, a large pot with a lid and some old hand towels or pot holders. I’ll explain this is more detail later. First we should get the basics down of what you need and where to start.

You will need the following ingredients:
• 4 pounds of wax-free cucumbers
• 2 pounds of onions (small white ones are recommended)
• 1/3 cup kosher salt or canning salt
• 2 tablespoons of mustard seed
• 2 teaspoons of celery seed
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon peppercorn
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 cups apple cider vinegar
• 8 cups of ice

You will also need the following kitchen items:
• Large 10 qt (or bigger) pot with lid or jarring pot if you have one
• 7 pint size jars with lids
• Large mixing bowl
• Measuring spoons
• Tongs for getting lids out of boiling water and removing boiling jars
• Old hand towel or pot holder
• Small pan for boiling water with lids
• Slicer or sharp knife to slice cucumbers and onions
• Colander

To begin making the pickles wash and thinly slice the four pounds of cucumbers and two pounds of onions. If you have a slider grater with a slicing attachment it will go faster but using a knife works just as well.

Once you are finished slicing layer the large mixing bowl with cucumbers, onions and then sprinkle kosher salt and repeat until you run out. Then pour the ice on top and the rest of the salt and let sit for about 90 minutes. This is how the pickles get crisp.

Once the 90 minutes are up put the cucumbers and onions in the colander to rinse off the salt. Try and get most of the water drained off so you don’t add it to the pot later.

**This is when you should start the dishwasher with your jars in it if you have one or start soaking your jars in really hot water in the sink (not the lids). The method behind the madness deals with putting the boiling hot cucumbers and onions in cold jars isn’t a good idea. The glass can break and hurt you!

Next combine the vinegar, sugar and spices in the large pot and put the disks of your lids in the small pot with water. Put both pots on medium heat and bring to a boil.

Once your vinegar broth is boiling add the cucumbers and onions and stir. Bring back to a boil. (You will notice the color of the cucumbers changing to a lighter green color.) Once they have boiled for about 2 minutes (or turned lighter green) shut off the heat and get your jars out to be filled.

Use tongs to grab the cucumbers and onions and shove them into the hot jars. Fill up to ¼ inch from the rim and then fill the rest with juice from the pot. Once all your jars are filled, wipe off the rims very well and use the tongs to grab the boiling disk part of your lids and place them on the jars. Then you can screw on the rings.

Once your jars are all sealed up you are ready to give them a hot water bath. This is how you seal them for storage. You can use the same pot you made the pickles in by just rinceing it out well real fast and filling it with hot tap water. Make sure the water is hot because the jars are and it can bust the glass changing temperatures too quickly.

Next you will want to put your old hand towel or pot holders on the bottom of the pot with hot water to make a barrier between the burner and the jars. Once the pot is on the stove, arrange the jars so they are not touching each other (they can touch the sides of the pot). Make sure when you put them in that the water is up to the lids. Bring the pot to a boil on medium heat for 10 minutes.

Then you will have to carefully remove the jars out of the boiling water to cool. I used my huge tongs for barbequing that can handle the weight of the full jars. Be extremely careful because you can really burn yourself doing this.

Cool the jars overnight in a place without drafts and then put one in the refrigerator for yourself! Don’t be alarmed as you will hear the lids popping as they seal.

These pickles are great on sandwiches or as a snack. Also they make great gifts! I hope you enjoy them as much and I do!