Picklin'

Well, yesterday, along with my pie and veggies, I made a double batch of sweet pickle relish. That turned out great- I must say. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of heat the Hungarian Wax peppers add to a few of the jars. Today, in an attempt to do "something" with more of my farmstand produce, I made refrigerator pickles with some overgrown picklers. The first one I made only made one jar- and of course, is from my new acquisition Fresh Every Day.

Mom's Fridge Pickles

Makes about 1 quart

1 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBS sea salt
1/2 tsp. freshly gound black pepper
6 whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. dill seed
4 to 5 small kirby cucumbers, peeled in stripes and cut into 1/8 inch thick slices
1 small white onion, thinly sliced into rounds

1. Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper flakes, and dill seed in a quart jar. Place the lid on the jar and shake until the sugar has dissolved.

2. Layer the cucumbers and the onions in the jar using a wooden spoon to press them tightly into the jar, shake it well, and refrigerate it at least 4 hours, shaking the jar occassionally to keep the ingredients mixed. These pickles will keep in the refrigerator for at least 1 month.

Now for the things I did differently. I did not use a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. That seemed like a lot to me- especially since my jar from Penzey's is still pretty new- and quite fresh. So I maybe used 1/4 tsp.- and I think I was right on the mark with that one- a bit of a zip, but not too much. I also did not have dill seed- so I used a little more than a teaspoon of dill weed, and that seemed to work the trick- plus I think the dill weed makes a pretty pickle. I may try the dill seed next time, but I think I will still use the dill weed too. And my final change was not to use small kirby cucumbers. I did use pickling cucumbers- but these were way overgrown, the type used for sunshine pickles. Since the were the diameter of a regular cucumber, I sliced them, and then sliced those slices in half- instead of peeling in stripes. I am certain you could make these with any cucumber. They are a wonderful refrigerator pickle- very good, and an instant hit here. I also made 4 quarts of a different recipe- but those need to sit for at least 24 hours before trying- so I have to wait to report on those ones. They look good- but I goofed on the amounts of cucumber I had, and had to make a double batch of brine. Wouldn't you know it- I look in the fridge now at the jars, and there is a lot of floating vegetables- like, I was probably off by half. Hopefully they will still taste good- but we'll see tomorrow.

Now back to the produce box...