Waiting for my Sour Pickle Face.... Homemade Garlic Dill Pickles are in the Refrigerator

Happily, I will be able to repel Vampires for several weeks...sadly, I will have to put up with the smell of garlic on my hands for quite awhile.  Still haven't concocted the best method for garlic and onion smell removal... may need to try that metal bar.

Okay, so last week in my CSA account we had the option of getting a  15 lb cucumber pickling package, so I decided to jump at it.  We did not plant cucumbers in the garden this year, and who doesn't love pickles.  So off I went shopping for all the ingredients, and more mason jars. I felt buying the premixes was just cheating.  Now, the big challenge for doing our own pickling recipe was finding the Canning Salt.  Apparently you can substitute Kosher Salt, but it's not quite the same I've been told.  Now we went to three different stores that had big displays of canning wares, and guess what, no canning salt, just pectin and premixes!  I did find it on Amazon, but I didn't want to wait, so thankfully we did finally find it at our local Price Chopper, but it was quite the hunt! Also, it's funny to note that fresh organic dill from the health food store was cheaper than the fresh container of dill at the supermarket. 

We bought a few bunches of dill, but I think we bought a little over a pound of garlic... it may have been overkill, but I love garlic, so perhaps if I don't use it up, I'll mince it up and put it in oil.  Also, we've never invested in our own canner, and I didn't get a chance in all my running around to ask my in-laws if I could borrow theirs, so I just did up a few jars for now.  We may break down and buy our own pressure canner soon, just need to figure out which one.  Perhaps, we'll have one by the time the tomatoes are ready.  

Enough, of my rambling, here's this week recipe:

The Lazy Diva's Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients:

About 3-5 lbs of small cucumbers

Brine:

4 cups Water
3 cups Vinegar
1/3 cup Canning Salt

Per Jar:

3 cloves Garlic
2-3 Pieces of Fresh Dill
Pinch of Mustard Seed
Pinch of Minced Onions
Couple of Peppercorns
1 Bay Leaf

Step One: The Brine

In a pot add the water, vinegar and salt.  Stir and bring to a boil so the salt is dissolved.  Put Aside.

Step Two: Adding Seasoning to the Jars

In any order you please add the Garlic, Dill, Mustard Seed, Onions and bay leaf. 

I forgot the onion, so I substituted the minced.  Also, I only had the Peppercorn Grinder, so I used ground.  It's yet another recipe where you can use what you like, or what you have at hand.

Step Three:  Slice the Pickles and place in Jar

Now I mostly did spears. But I did shake it up a little with different slice widths. I just crammed them in as best I could.

Step Four:  Pour in the brine, and place the lid on.

For best taste you should wait at least a week to enjoy the Pickles!  Then you can make a Sour Pickle face like my niece learned on Barney.  She's two and loves pickles, I'll have to see how she likes the homemade variety!


Notes:  

I used distilled (white) vinegar for the majority, but I noticed on Pinterest some recipes specifically said Apple Cider, so I did a small batch with that.  From the outset, the brine tasted saltier with the Apple Cider, but perhaps there was a little salt residue from the first batch or I put a hair more salt in....or it was all in my mind.  Who knows...

The joys of doing the jars outside, clean up is a BREEZE!  (Okay, I scraped it up and tossed it in the hedgerow, but it's a lot easier than scrubbing counters and the stove!)  

AND the pictures come out a lot nicer!



Perhaps I'll do more pickles in a few days,
but that's it for this weekend!