Our bank opened a new mini-branch in our local supermarket and they were giving out some promotional items. I picked up a couple of their promotional marketing pens, sticky notes and a couple other things.

I love having the branch in the supermarket.. it saves me a lot of driving time to deposit a check and do my banking. When I’m done I don’t have to drive to get my groceries.. it’s all right there. The drug store is right across the street too. It makes my running around more efficient. We all need to save time and fuel these days and having things so close by helps with all of that.

If you haven’t done canning you should. Canning will save you a lot of money. Below is my favorite canning recipe for bread and butter pickles.

10 cups sliced pickling cucumbers (1/4-inch slices)
4 medium onions, sliced thin
1/2 cup pickling or canning salt
3 cups white vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
2 tbsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. ground turmeric

1. In a glass or stainless steel bowl, combine cucumbers, onions and salt. Mix well, cover with cold water and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. Transfer to a colander placed over a sink; rinse with cool running water and drain thoroughly.

2. Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids.

3. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, celery seeds and turmeric. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in vegetables and return to a boil.

4. Pack vegetables into hot jars to within a generous 1/2-inch of top of jar. Ladle hot pickling liquid into jar to cover vegetables leaving 1/2 inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot pickling liquid. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

5. Place in jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Makes about 5 pint jars.

Let stand 4-6 weeks before serving.

These are more healthy than store bought pickles because no preservatives are used and your health insurance will thank you for that.