ghoghunter, Thanks for posting! I am an urban girl born and bred and only recently discovered mustard pickles, from a friend's mom, and boy were they tasty! I wanted to have them with everything!!! AM hoping to try making some this season. Your mother's recipe sounds lovely. As Carol says, some of the details about canning safety recommendations have changed --- mostly to give a greater margin of error, I think, and make sure that the recommended recipes have been actually tested to be SURE they are safe. And some new products like ClearJel (which is a thickener designed for canning) actually work better in a lot of ways than the old stand-bys. I would probably follow the newer recommendations just to be 100% sure, because I can for fun and see no reason to take even small risks. But the main things that make the recipe your mom's are the selection of veggies and the choice of spices, which would be easy to adapt to the slight differences of a modern, tested method. It's great to have links to the past like this, especially such yummy ones! Hope to hear more about your adventures in pickles and other canning.... Zabby

I am getting tired just thinking of all this, LOL. Basically, if your onion is within the amount for a halved recipe of the BBB and you're not adding green peppers but using raisins instead, you should be fine. Both apples and green tomatoes are acidic, the green tomatoes being more acidic, so if you change the proportions to include more green tomatoes and fewer apples than the BBB recipe calls for that's fine as long as it tastes OK. The main thing is to have enough vinegar-sugar syrup that the chutney is not too dry. Since the product has already been thoroughly acidified with the previous cooking, it seems principally a matter of heating through and sufficiently to blend flavors and plump the raisins. Your salt levels are not an issue, nor are the differences in time. You used less salt and didn't rinse while the BBB used more salt and did rinse. All-in-all the result is pretty much the same. Salt, sugar, spices are all flexible in this recipe. It's an undiluted vinegar-sugar solution with a low level of onion, so you have some latitude without the safety concerns of a salsa, for instance. So go by taste; when it tastes good and is the right consistency, jar it up. With a chutney there are fewer concerns with texture, so if your canner can't accomodate all you make, you could do two separate batches in the BWB with no problems. I hope this helps. Things have gotten a little confusing, but what you're doing is no different than many previous-generation cooks who often created excellent recipes from what was essentially a salvage operation. Take notes. You'll hate it if everyone loves what you came up with and you can't recreate it. Carol

Laurie I like it very much my self. I havenÂt seen the two colors side by side, but to me, itÂs very close in color. I didnÂt get a sample of either one yet. The holidayÂs were so busy, I put everything aside . After we get all the Christmas stuff put away, I will start with my winter projects. I love your bathroom, you really did a fantastic job! What are you doing with your paneling? Did you start, or are you finished and I missed it? You work hard Laurie!! Do you have a BM near you? That would be great let me know if you get a s ample of honeymoon (or mustard seed) and visa versa. I think you will beat me to it..lol Ree Ps.. have pictures of your kitchen?

Oh joy! Good it worked. Nice plump ones Annie. So many ways to get there. Same with making mustards. You can take 2/3rd's and stick blend, add some mustard flour like Coleman's, horseradish, yogurt, fresh or dried herbs.... I added a big blob to my taco sauce last night. This jar, where the black rubber band is located, is the dry seed fill line. Added a squirt of AC vinegar and filled with hot water. Sat back of counter for a few hours and it more than doubled. Somewhere around 12-18 depending on your room temp, they will start to sprout and on their way to plants. Not noticeable until about 24hours being such small seed. Sprinkled on just an inch of clean soil, (I use coir), they will be salad in about 6-10 days depending on temp...same seed you use to make your mustard pickle.