What are home-made sweet pickles?

I am doing this post to answer some questions about home-made pickles. Russ's mom used to make them all the time, and Russ grew to the point of loving ONLY his mamma's pickles. No other brand would satisfy his taste buds! This is how we made ours...in a nutshell...

We bought 4-5 cucumbers. We boiled a huge pot of water, then put the cucumbers in whole and let them soak. We did that once a day for a few days. Then we pickled them by cutting them up into little pieces, and using a pickling spice and a few other ingredients, made a "brine" where you boil everything together, strain, and pour into your prepared canning jars (that you have to specially make ready too). Russ did it all, but it really wasn't that hard. They actually taste really good, and Russ always has them with his tuna fish sandwiches. We made sweet pickles, so I am not sure how you would do dill pickles, but it was a fun "adventure". It feels good to be able to be somewhat self-reliant. We are finding that just because you want something, it doesn't mean you have to get it at the store. There are so many things a person can make at home!

So....if you are interested in making some home-made sweet pickles, let me know, and I will get you the recipe!