Papa always used the home grown vadalia's, but he'd say the ones he grew were never as sweet as the ones grown in vadalia county, which is in Georgia I think. I don't like onions, so I just grit my teeth when I put them in, so let me know how they turn out babeegirl.
Sandpat said her batch were only in the freezer for 24 hours. So anything after that "hard freeze" should be okay.
You're exactly right beachlady the waxed cukes are no good as the wax does odd things to the pickles and you can't just peal the skins off and go without - that will get you mushy pickles. (trust me I did it once)