When I was a little girl living in way out in the country outside Lawrence, Kansas, I always knew that I could reach into the giant crock jar on our back porch and pull out a big whole pickle at any time. I do not remember my siblings and I so much as rinsing our hands before reaching in the crock for the pickles. I don't remember us even thinking we should rinse our hands. The hardest part of getting a pickle was lifting that heavy crock lid off.
Those were the best pickles I have ever eaten in my whole life to date. My grandmothers, both of them, had crock pickles also but they kept theirs in their cellars, along with bushels of apples, sacks of potatoes, shelves of canned vegetables and fruits in Mason jars, jams, jellies and sacks of nuts. I don't remember one time with either grandma when I saw her sitting in her rocker but that she wasn't shelling nuts, crocheting, or doing something productive with her hands.
Brine Pickles
Gently wash cucumbers -- don't bruise them. Get an estimate on how much the cucumbers weigh. Put the cucumbers in your crock and cover with a 10% brine solution. The best temperature for brining pickles is in the 80 F degree range.
Brine Solution: 1 cup salt to 2 quarts water.
To test if your brine is right put a fresh egg in the solution and if it floats, your brine is at 10%.
Now weight the cucumbers down with a plate or something else that works for you. That's all you can do now. The following morning, however, add 1 cup of salt for each 5 pounds of cucumbers. This is important because it maintains the brine solution at 10%. Also note that it is best to add that salt on top of the plate weighing down the cucumbers and let it dissolve there; otherwise, it will sink to the bottom of the crock and will form too strong a brine down there.
You'll need to remove the scum when it forms on top of the brine. This is another important step: if the brine is not removed it will destroy the acidity of the brine and your pickles will be spoiled.
At the end of a week and for the next 5 weeks, add 1/4 cup salt for each 5 pounds of cucumbers. Remember, add salt on top of the plate weighing them down so it doesn't sink too fast. Let the fermentation (bubbles forming) continue for about 4 weeks.
If you like real crisp pickles, add some grape leaves or cherry tree leaves. Some women back then also used alum or lime. Not any of those are necessary for crisp pickles if you follow the procedure properly.
Sweet-scented lavender is one of nature's gifts to us. Once you get your lavender herb bed started and coming up more each year, you will always be rich.
I only moved about 15 miles northwest and it has only been four years, so to this date, getting lavender started again was low on my priority list. But I am going for it this spring (2012). Tweet
Corn Pudding
See the bundle of collard greens freshly washed and in a strainer: well, the person who eats these greens, raw or cooked, will receive a walloping clear-off-the-chart charge of nutrients Vitamin-K, Vitamin-A, Vitamin-C, and manganese.
I chose 1914 a the valentine year bec
ause of the style of the bloomer outfits for boys and girls looks like it is from that period; and because some of the other valentine cards depict children dressed in World War I uniforms.
and then placed in the ice box or freezer (kept longer) until needed.
eater and when I was a little girl and found these cookie logs in the ice box, I'd slice off a couple raw cookies and run outside, climb up in my tree house (couple of pieces of lumber I'd placed over a couple tree limbs), and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. Here is our old family recipe which I still use today:
. I found this photo of an old recipe box online. I choose it because it is identical to the one my mother used. Mom put the recipe she was going to use in the lid, the way it looks here. She would set the recipe box with her chosen recipe out on the counter early in the day. Then she built her day around her choice. 
would be cooling near her west kitchen window.