Of all the pickles I make each summer and hand out as gifts, this is the most requested. A neighbor, the late Doris Avery, once left me a voicemail message raving about the pickles and noting that she had eaten a whole jar by herself in a couple days. I soon delivered a second jar. This recipe is reprinted with permission from Jean Anderson’s Preserving Guide: How to Pickle and Preserve, Can and Freeze, Dry and Store Vegetables and Fruits (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012).
12 medium-sized tender young yellow squash, cut into 1/4-inch slices
3 dozen small silverskin white onions, sliced very thin
1/2 cup pickling salt
6 cups ice cubes
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 quart white vinegar
1 3/4 teaspoons turmeric
1 3/4 teaspoons celery seeds
1 3/4 teaspoons white mustard seeds
Layer the squash and onions alternately in a very large mixing bowl, sprinkling with pickling salt as you go. Pile ice on top and let stand at room temperature for 3 hours. Place in a colander to drain and rinse well in cool water. Drain well, pressing out as much liquid as possible.
Bring the sugar, vinegar, turmeric, celery seeds, and mustard seeds to a rolling boil over medium heat in a large stainless-steel stockpot or enamel Dutch oven. Add the squash and onions and stir gently. Bring just to the boiling point.
Pack the squash and onions into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Follow the instructions for boiling-water canning on page 10. Process the jars for 10 minutes.