Lady Ashburnham Pickles

For years, my husband talked about the Lady Ashburnham pickles that his mother used to make. Anytime he went to New Brunswick to visit (a 12-hour drive), he requested some to take home with him. I had never heard of them before, but a quick google search will tell you that they are pretty common on the east coast (of Canada and the U.S.) and the idea is pretty standard: basically, it's a sweet relish, yellow in colour.

Once my husband started his low-sodium diet, one of the many things he gave up was pickles.

Finally, last summer, I decided I would try to make a salt-free version for him. We had bought a pressure-cooker/canner, and our neighbour gave us a bunch of cucumbers from her garden, so I called my mother-in-law to ask for her recipe.

Here it is (thanks, Nancy!), minus the salt:

8-10 large cucumbers, peeled and seeded
4 cups chopped onion (I used white sweet onion)
Finely diced red pepper ("for colour," according to Nancy)
2 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
3 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. dry mustard
1 tbsp. turmeric
1 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. celery seed

Cut cucumbers into relish-sized pieces.
Let sit overnight, then drain (This is where the salt is supposed to be added; I didn't, and so there wasn't much to drain. My theory is that the salt would have pulled more moisture out; I could be wrong. Maybe I just had drier cucumbers. Either way, my batch turned out and got my husband's stamp of approval, and so did my second batch).
Combine all ingredients in large stock pot.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for at least an hour (I simmered longer, until more of the liquid had evaporated).
Can while still hot, using your canner's instructions.

Here's the canned product:

Lady Ashburnham pickles

Not bad for a Saturday night's work!
Note that I used two different sizes of mason jar. That's all that I had, and I was doing this (as with most serious cooking/baking these days) after Atticus was in bed, and after Canadian Tire (my go-to Mason jar location) had closed.

My husband went through the jars remarkably quickly, eating it with pretty much any kind of meat, and on potatoes. He thinks of it as a side dish, while I regard it as a condiment. Either way, it's pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. And he claims you don't notice the lack of salt.