ill, whole peppers and grape leaves, if you have them, also a very
few bay leaves. Cover with water up to the brim and lay a piece of rye
bread in the jar; it will help to quicken the process of souring. Cover
with a plate and put a clean, heavy stone on top of the plate, in order
to keep them well covered with the brine. Set them in a warm place, say
back of the kitchen stove, for the first three days. They will be ready
to use in a week.

SALZGURKEN

Take half-grown cucumbers; lay them in water overnight, then wipe each
one dry and reject all that are soft at the ends. Lay a layer of
cucumbers in a new barrel or wine keg (a small vinegar barrel is best),
then a layer of the following spices: Fennel, dill, bay leaves, a few
whole peppers; then cover with grape and cherry leaves, and begin again
with a layer of cucumbers and fill in alternate layers until all are
used. Then boil enough salt and water to just cover them, test the
strength of the water by laying an egg in it, if it rises the water has
enough salt in it, if not, add more salt. Pour this over the cucumbers
when cold. Get a cooper to tighten up the barrel, and roll it in the sun
and allow it to stay there for two weeks, turning over the barrel once
each day.

DELICIOUS MUSTARD PICKLES (SENFGURKEN)

Take about two dozen large, yellow pickles, pare them with a silver
knife (to prevent them from turning dark), and cut lengthwise. Now take
a silver spoon and remove all the seeds and soft inner pulp. Cut into
strips about as long as your finger; sprinkle salt over them, and so on,
until they are all cut up, then put in a wooden pail or large china bowl
overnight. At the same time take about two quarts of small pickling
onions, scald them with boiling water, remove the skins, also with a
silver knife, and salt the same as you did the pickles. In the morning
take a clean dish towel and dry each piece and lay them in a stone jar
in the following manner: First a layer of pickles then a layer of
onions, and then some horseradish, sliced, between the layers; a few
whole peppers, a very few bay leaves, and sprinkle mustard seed,
allspice and whole cloves between each layer. Remove the soft little
heads of the cloves to prevent the pickles from turning dark; cover all
with the best white wine vinegar; put a double cheese-cloth filled with
mustard seed on top. In two weeks pour off the vinegar carefully and
boil, and let it get perfectly cold before pouring over t