Icicle Pickles

The family pickle recipe learned from the creator's mother, made since childhood.

Ingredients

20 cucumbers
6 cups vinegar (type not specified in notebook)
6 cups sugar
½ cup salt (type not specified)
2 cups water, for brine
Ice water, enough to cover cut cucumbers

Notebook yield: 6 pints.

Original notebook method

Quarter the cucumbers lengthwise.
Cover with ice water and let stand overnight.
Drain and pack into clean jars.
Combine sugar, vinegar and 2 cups water in a pot.
Boil for 3 minutes.
Add salt.
Pour over cucumbers, leaving ¼-inch headspace.
Close jars and process in boiling water for 10 minutes, as written in the original family notebook.
According to the creator's family practice, refrigerate and allow to rest for at least 2 weeks. The preferred flavor developed after about 4 weeks, although the family rarely waited that long.

Family history

The creator learned these icicle pickles from her mother and remembers helping make them at approximately four years old. This family tradition took place in Newark, Phelps, and Palmyra, New York. The family has made them for years and considers this a tried-and-true favorite. They were refrigerated after preparation and rested at least two weeks; four weeks was considered best, but family members started sneaking pickles out of the jars as early as day four, long before the recommended resting period.

Preservation note

This page preserves a historical family recipe, not a verified shelf-stable canning procedure. The notebook does not identify vinegar acidity, salt type, cucumber size, or processing altitude. Its listed 10-minute boiling-water process should not be treated as a tested canning schedule. For safe long-term pantry storage, use a current tested pickling recipe and altitude-adjusted processing instructions. This family version should be kept refrigerated; refrigeration does not independently make an unverified preservation recipe safe for extended storage.

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