"Peter Pepper picked a peck of pickled peppers."

- Nursery Rhyme.

Pickled Onions.

Scald 1 gallon of silver-skin onions - small ones are the best - and sprinkle them with salt, first putting in a layer of onions and then one of salt, and let them stand for 24 hours. Drain them, wash well, and cover with clear water for 4 hours. Then put them in a stone jar and fill with pure vinegar. Let them stand for 3 days; then take out of the plain vinegar and cover with the following: Four quarts of strong vingear, 5 pounds brown sugar, 1 ounce of allspice, 1 ounce of cloves, 1/2 ounce of mace, 1 ounce of celery seed, 1/2 ounce of coriander seed, 1/4 ounce of black pepper, 1/2 ounce of mustard seed. Pound in a mortar until all ingredients are broken and mixed well. Boil and set away to cool. When lukewarm pour over the onions and tie a cloth over the jar.

Cucumbers.

Take 2 gallons of small ripe cucumbers and throw in brine that will bare an egg, allowing them to remain 3 days. Drain from the brine, and green with a lump of alum and enough water to cover them well; spread over the top large grape leaves, and when the cucumbers begin to turn yellow, lift them out with a strainer and throw into cold water until they lose their salty taste. Cover with plain vinegar for 3 days. Take a large stone jar and put in it a layer of cucumbers and one of onions, then a layer of spice and one of brown sugar, and repeat until the jar is full. Fill with vinegar, covering well. Tie a cloth over the jar and set in a preserving kettle of cold water. As the water boils away, fill with hot water. The kettle must be on the back of the stove, where it will not boil, but simmer for 4 hours. Boiling ruins the pickles and makes them shrivel. The proportions for the vinegar, sugar and spice is the same as for onions. Use the onions that you prepared in the spring to fill the jars.

Cucumbers Made in Molasses.

Put cucumbers in brine for 3 days; strain and soak in water for 2 hours. Put in a kettle and add the following: One-half pound of brown sugar, 3 pods of red pepper, 1 dessertspoon of pulverized alum and enough vinegar, weakened with water till the sharpness is removed, to cover them. Cover with grape leaves and scald well; avoid boiling. Put in a jar and let stand 2 days. Throw the old vinegar away and make a new covering for them of 3 pints of vinegar, 1/2 teacup of celery seed, 1/2 teacup of mustard seed, 1 teacup of molasses, 1 pound of brown sugar, 1 ounce of allspice, 1 ounce of cloves, 1/2 ounce of black pepper, 1/2 ounce of mace. Boil well, and when cold pour over the cucumbers.

Good Proportions for Pickling.

One-half ounce each of cloves, allspice, mace, black pepper, celery seed and ginger, 1 ounce of mustard seed, 3/4 pound of brown sugar and 1 quart of vinegar. Boil up once or twice and allow to cool, unless otherwise directed. When pickling plums or damsons, prick them with a needle three or four times to keep them from shrinking.

Chow Chow.

Half peck green tomatoes, 1 hard head cabbage, 8 onions, 1 peck small onions, 100 small cucumbers, 1/2 pint grated horse radish, 1/4 pound mustard seed, 1/2 ounce celery seed, 1/4 teacup of ground black pepper, 1/2 teacup tumeric, 1/4 teacup cinnamon, 2 pounds brown sugar, 3 quarts of vinegar, 1/2 pound mustard, 1/4 pint of olive oil. Cut the large onions, tomatoes and cabbage in pieces. Mix well with small onions and cucumbers and pack down in salt overnight. In the morning drain off the brine and soak in vinegar 2 days. Drain again and mix the spice and new vinegar with the sugar; boil and pour over the pickle while hot. Repeat for three successive days, Jetting the vinegar only come to a boil each time. The third day mix the mustard and oil as for a dressing, and add it to the prepared vinegar. Do not add the horse radish until all the boiling has been done. Commence on Monday and finish on Saturday.