Lady Ashburnham Pickles

Lady Ashburnham Pickles

Who the Heck is Lady Ashburnham, Anyway?

Apparently, Lady Ashburnham was a Frederictonian who was employed as a telephone operator and her distinctive voice charmed a British royal and they wound up getting married. He became the Duke despite being like 6th in line, but they weren't really in favor with the Royal Family who "encouraged" him to bring his bride back to New Brunswick where they were basically socialites in Fredericton. The pickles were actually her sister's, not hers, but she gets the credit for them through their name. Not the coolest story, but it answers the question, Who the heck is Lady Ashburnham?

The Recipe

Ingredients
6 large cucumbers, chopped fine
4 cups onions, chopped
1 red pepper (apparently not part of the original recipe, but makes them prettier)
1/4 cup kosher salt
2 cups vinegar
2 cups white sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery seed

Directions

Day 1:
Wash your cucumbers and pepper. Peel and dice your cucumbers and onions, and chop the red pepper fine. Place all vegetables in a large bowl, sprinkle the salt over them and set overnight, covered with a clean cloth.

Peeling cucumbers

Onions

Peeled and de-pulped cucumbers

Some people really chop the cucumbers fine, but I cut mine about 1/4" - 1/2" cubes.

Cucumbers & onions

Cucumbers & onions sitting in salt overnight

Day 2:
Combine all ingredients in a large pot and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.

Pickles cooking

Sterilize 6 500-ml jars and soak lids and bands in hot water for about 15 minutes (don't boil).

Preparing the lids and bands

Sterilizing the jars

Ladle the pickles into the jars, cover with lids and screw the bands on finger-tight. Most of the recipes don't say to, but I always place them in a sterile sink and pour a kettle of boiling water over them. For good measure.

Bottled Lady Ashburnhams