Slicing cukes have smooth skins, and are generally longer and straighter. Despite what they say about picking favorites (teachers, farmers, parents??) these are probably my favorite crop of the season. I grow a variety that is distinct for their crispness, sweetness, and non-bitter, spineless skins.
Pickling cukes are heavier duty guys that, when allowed to get large, have meatier flesh that can stand up to cooking. At the younger stage at which they're harvested from GPF, you can treat them like any other regular cucumber. You can tell these two apart mainly by the nature of the skins, and pickling cukes will tend to be shorter and with more girth, while the slicers are longer, sleeker, skinnier.
Here's a recipe for a cold cucumber soup adapted from the Moosewood Cookbook, my recommendation would be to put the food processor to work chopping (and don't bother skinning the slicing cucumbers as the skins are sweet and will add nice color and a vitamin boost.)
One more note: I am taking a brief vacation to the Adirondacks, and my friends Liz and Wil will be harvesting in my stead. Thank you, Liz and Wil!
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