I started with 5 lbs of green tomatoes from the end of the garden (3 weeks ago).

Pickled Sweet Green Tomatoes

10 to 11 lbs of green tomatoes (16 cups sliced) - I had half this

2 cups sliced onions (halved so 1C)

1/4 cup canning or pickling salt (used only 2Tbsp for the 5lb of tomatoes)

3 cups brown sugar

4 cups vinegar (5 percent) - I used half white and half cider vinegar, did have to use 4C for 5lbs of maters

1 tbsp mustard seed (cut to 1tsp)

1 tbsp allspice (cut to 1tsp)

1 tbsp celery seed (cut to 1tsp)

1 tbsp whole cloves (cut to 1 tsp)

Yield: About 9 pints (about 5 pints for 5lbs I made)

Procedure: Wash and slice tomatoes and onions. Place in bowl, sprinkle with salt, and let stand 4 to 6 hours. Drain.

Heat and stir sugar in vinegar until dissolved. Tie mustard seed, allspice, celery seed, and cloves in a spice bag.

Add to vinegar with tomatoes and onions. If needed, add minimum water to cover pieces (I didn't use water, just used 4C of vinegar plus spices in 2 tea balls).

Bring to boil and simmer 30 (I'd say 20 was more than enough, some of mine shredded) minutes, stirring as needed to prevent burning. Tomatoes should be tender and transparent when properly cooked.

Remove spice bag. Fill jar and cover with hot pickling solution, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Adjust lids and process according to the recommendations in Table 1. (I didn't process, just stuck 2 quarts and a peanut butter jar full in the fridge).

Table 1. Recommended process time for Pickled Sweet Green Tomatoes in a boiling-water canner.

Process Time at Altitudes of

Style of Pack Jar Size 0 - 1,000 ft 1,001 - 6,000 ft Above 6,000 ft

Hot Pints 10 min 15 20

Quarts 15 20 25

I tasted these a couple days later, they were great even though they were brown. My dad just called (I gave him a pint) - he said they were even better than the Bread and Butter cukes I'd been giving him all summer, he had seconds tonight even though he usually "tries to make things last" - I told him I have a quart still in the fridge for him, so eat them up, they won't keep much longer!

So we've got 2 out of 3 Yankees that tried these (DS didn't like them) who have gotten past the brown brine and think this recipe is a keeper!