Pickled Hungarian Pickles

This is Mary Anne Garofalo's recipe, my wonderful, creative neighbor and dear friend.
I'm writing this on the second week of August, the Hungarian Peppers are ready locally at the farms. I got mine yesterday from Emmi's Farm Stand on Buckley Road, their peppers are always good, nice and crisp . .
I got enough peppers for one jar, maybe a dozen and sliced them first, placed them in the jar and with a measuring cup figured out how much liquid the jar would need. So for one jar, you need 3 cups water and 3 cups white vinegar. The rest of the ingredients are the same.
So for each jar, put one clove garlic, 1 teaspoon pickling salt, 1/2 teaspoon salicylic acid (this keeps the peppers green and crunchy), 1 basil leaf and 1 sprig oregano, also 1 teaspoon sugar if you wish. Once opened keep in fridge.
Mary Anne uses this on top of pizza.
As the peppers go down, I have also added raw cauliflower to the jar, which was most popular among those people who love hot flavors.

Make sure you wear rubber gloves when working with these peppers! After you have sliced the peppers, change the gloves to fill the jars. If the juice by some error gets into your eyes, flush your eye with milk, keep blinking...... The jars can be stored in a cool place, once you have opened the jar, keep in refrigerator.

Ingredients

8  2qt pickling jars
1/2 bushel Hungarian peppers
Pickling salt
salicylic acid
16 cups water
16 cups white vinegar
8 cloves garlic
1 basil leaf (optional)
1 sprig oregano (optional)
1 teasp. sugar (optional, and cuts down on heat)


Directions

Wash 8  2qt. pickling jars in the dishwasher to sterilize.
Slice of each end of pepper, wash thoroughly and slice 1/2 inch thick. Leave seeds in.
In a large pot, bring 16 cups of vinegar and 16 cups water to the boil.

In the bottom of each jar, place a garlic clove sliced in half, 1 tablespoon pickling salt and 1/2 teaspoon salicylic acid. (the basil leaf and oregano sprig may be added also if you choose to use them). Pack the jars with the sliced peppers. Spoon boiling water and vinegar mixture into the jars so the level of liquid is right to the top. Leave to let the bubbles rise, add a little more liquid and place the lid firmly on top, twisting tight. Turn the jar upside down to seal the lid and leave overnight.
Store in a cool place. Does not need to be refrigerated until you have opened the jar.