Mixed sweet pickles without the mix, or pickled cauliflower

I remember as a kid that we would always keep both dill and mixed sweet pickles on hand. I never really understood why cauliflower was included in the "mix" but this was was my favourite pickled vegetable at the time, though I couldn't stand it any other way.

Well, I like cauliflower in all its forms now but want to relive the glory of my youth with these pickles.

My Eugenia Bone recipe for these called for a couple of pounds of cauliflower, blanched and then hot-packed. As I'm starting to discover is par for the course, the quantities of her recipes never seem to turn out as expected. In this case, I had extra cauliflower at the end but not nearly enough broth to pack six quarts. VERY frustrating to have to make up more broth at the end! But I'm hoping it will be worth it months from now when I enjoy these pickles.