Cucumbers and Onions

Simple ingredients

In published collections, this recipe is called “Cucumber and Onion Salad.” In our family, though, it was never served as a salad. In the refrigerator, during the summer, stood a large jar in which cucumber and onion slices quietly marinated in a sweetened solution of vinegar diluted 50-50 with water. When it was time to eat some of the cucumbers and onions, my wife, Pat, would take them out of the jar and distribute them on plates, Next to each pile of cucumbers and onions she would place a small pile of saltine crackers. We would consume them as follows: Place a cucumber slice on a cracker. Place a strip of onion on the cucumber slice. Open wide your mouth. Pop the whole shooting match in for a big delightful bite.

Pat added a nice touch  by scoring the peeled cucumbers with a fork along their length, working all the way around each cucumber, thereby making ridges all around. When the cucumber is sliced, the slices have serrated edges.

Cucumbers and Onions

Ingredients

3 large cucumbers (the fresher, the better)

1 large onion

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

2/3 cup sugar

dash of salt and pepper

Directions

1. Peel the cucumbers.

2. Score them along their length with the points of the tines of a fork, so as to make ridges.

3. Slice them thin (but thick enough so that they are not floppy).

4. Put the slices in a bowl that is big enough so that they fill it about 1/3 full.

5. Trim and peel the onion and slice it into fairly thin slices. Cut the slices roughly into quarters.

6.  Add the cut-up onion to the bowl with the cucumbers in it. Stir.

7. In a separate bowl, mix the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pepper. Mix.

8. Pour the liquid mixture over the onions and cucumbers. Stir.

10. Place the bowl in the refrigerator and let the contents marinate. The longer it marinates, the tastier.

Saltine cracker, ready for action