- Pickled Cucumber Salad

Dear Fans of Hounds Who Cook,

Today we are offering you the very best solution for the zillion cucumbers you are rescuing in your garden from the pending frost. Use small cukes in this recipe for tender goodness. We used to call this Aunt Miriam's Refrigerator Pickles, but that sounds like you should eat them a slice at a time instead of by the bowlful. This dish is suited to serve as a side like you would serve coleslaw. Tell us if we're wrong, but that's how we eat them in our Hound home, a dainty 1/4 cup at a time. And they are Aunt Miriam's Refrigerator Pickles, by the way, our girl Me's culinary forebear and model.

Sweet Cucumber Salad

7 cups sliced cucumbers
1 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup sliced green pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon celery seed
2 cups sugar
1 cup vinegar

Use cucumbers with the peel if desired, but if the peels are thick and tough, peel them off in strips so at least half of the peel is removed from the cucumber before slicing. Slice the onions the same thickness as the cukes, and chop into pieces. Slice the pepper to the same size.

Let cukes stand overnight with onion, pepper, salt and celery seed.

Drain. Mix sugar and vinegar and pour over cucumbers. Pack in jars and refrigerate. Eat liberally.

Tips from Guthrie: Cucumbers are so very healthful that we wish we could have them everyday. This helps make it so. The sugar is not so healthful and you might be able to make this same good food with stevia rather than sugar. We just haven't tried it. You try and let us know. Our cucumbers are gone for the season.

Tips from Eli: Refrigerator properly, these will last a few months. Mmm.