Bread and butter pickles are easy to make, and if you are planning to make them as refrigerator pickles (storing them in the cold fridge, to be eaten within weeks), you can skip a lot of the canning steps.

This is a basic recipe that we happen to love, cobbled together from various editions of the Joy of Cooking plus some online research.

The ice helps keep the cucumbers crispy, as does cooking them for just a short time. You can experiment with the pickling spices and the pickling vegetables for that matter. We have a jalapeño bread and butter pickle recipe for people who love their pickles spicy.