Pickles

Summer was the season of making pickles refrigerator style. Now that fall is here, we are going to try the cucumbers that are in the store and compare in the taste. I have a feeling, I know who will win but it is always fun to see.

In the past we have made pickles the old fashion way. So it was a good change and a way to try another "style" of pickles. The refrigerator style pickles take about a week to rest. Once in the refrigerator they can stay for up to one month, but I guarantee you will have them eaten before then.

The first step you will want to do is to sterilize your jars that you will be using. If you have not done this in the past there are one of two ways that it can be done. First, by washing with hot water in the dishwasher, or second by boiling on the stove top for 10-15 minutes. Be sure to have the jars dry.

Ingredients

2 lbs cucumbers (sliced)
2 cups white vinegar
4 cups water
1 T. coarse sea salt
5 garlic cloves (crushed)
2 tsp. yellow mustard seed
Roughly 5T fresh dill spears

Wash the cucumbers and peel the skin (if you do not like the skin). Slice the cucumbers in the "thickness" desired. Crush the garlic cloves and set aside.

Bring the white vinegar, water and salt to a boil on the stove top. Add the crushed garlic and mustard seed to the vinegar/water/salt mixture and boil for five minutes. Then turn the heat off and set aside.

At the bottom of the sterilized jars, place sprigs of fresh dill inside and begin arranging the cucumbers on top of the dill. It is important to add layers of cucumbers and dill, then pour in some of the vinegar mixture as you go. Once you have filled the jars be sure to let the cucumbers/dill/vinegar mixture cool down to room temperature.

* The photograph above is refrigerator pickles minus the dill. My husband is not a dill fan, so we made a batch of pickles with dill and without the dill. Both were good but I tend to lean toward adding the additional flavor of the herb.