Bread & Butter Jalapeño Pickles Recipe

I'm in Georgia for the July 4th holidays and my mom and I have been taking advantage of the local produce and doing some pickling. First up, bread and butter pickles -- we went off of a few recipes and here is the recipe we came up with:

Ingredients:
- Approximately 4 pounds of pickling cucumbers, sliced
- 5 small onions, separated into rings and then thinly sliced
- 5 jalapeño peppers, sliced and seeded
- 1/2 cup of canning salt (you can substitute with kosher salt, but canning salt works best)
- 5 cups of sugar
- 2 cups of white vinegar
- 2 cups of apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons of mustard seed
- 2 teaspoons of celery seed
- 1.5 teaspoons of ground turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes for a bit of spice :)

What To Do:
- The first step is to cut all of your produce. Slice both ends off of your cukes and then slice them into 1/2 inch pieces. We used this handy tool to make them crinkle cut, but a regular ol' knife works just fine. Slice your onions into rings and then thinly slice them into pieces. For your jalapeños seed them and slice them into thin pieces. Make sure you wear gloves for this step to protect your skin!

- Thoroughly mix the cukes, onions, and jalapeños with the canning salt, lay a cheese cloth or tea towel over your mixture, and spread a few cups of crushed ice on top of the cloth. Put your bowl into a fridge for 3 hours.

- After 3 hours of chilling, rinse the produce, drain, and rinse again.
- Next, we'll want to create a brine. Mix together the vinegars, spices, and sugar. Bring the brine to a boil and then add the produce mixture. Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from the heat.
- After sterilizing your jars, tightly pack each jar and fill with brine (stop 1/2 inch from the rim of the jar).
- Place a sterilized lid on each jar and seal it using a canner. We use a steam canner, which I find MUCH easier to use than a water bath canner.

- Let each jar process for approximately 10 minutes in the canner, then remove carefully and let cool. Each seal should pop down! If they don't for some reason, stick your pickles in the fridge and consume within a few weeks. :)

Happy summer and happy canning!