Sweet Mustard Pickle

Photo: flickr user avlxyz

Ingredients

1 lb fresh cucumbers (2-4 inches long)

boiling water

1 tsp powdered alum

4 TBSs dry mustard

4 TBSs sugar

4 TBSs salt

2 quarts vinegar

1/2 cup whole pickling spice

1 root ginger

2 ozs mustard seed

1 root horseradish

3 lbs sugar (6 3/4 cups)

Preparation

Wash, scrub and dry cucumbers. Put into 1 1/2 to 2 lbs in a crock pot. Pour over 2/3 cup salt. Cover with boiling water and let stand 7-8 hours. Pour, wipe and put back into clean stone crock. Add pickling spice. Pour over a solution (do not heat) made from alum, dry mustard, sugar, salt and 2 quart vinegar. Stir well. Cover. Store in cool.

Measure out 3 pounds sugar put into small container. Each day add to pickles 1/4 cup of this sugar and stir. Continue each day until sugar is all used. Then add the mustard seed, ginger root and small root of horseradish. Can or let stand in crock.