Pickle Time

This summer has had a hold on me like no Seattle summer ever has. Mostly due to our new outdoor space for gardening and entertaining. Our garden gave us much satisfaction with its meager yields. Gardening in the PNW holds it own unique challenges like slow starting summer and lack of sun. This lead to some disappointments and my biggest one was my pickling cucumber plants never grew. Pickling is one of my favorite things to do and this year I again had to pick up my cucumbers from the local farmers market. 

I find pickling so easy and fun. It is something anyone can do. And you can pickle so many vegetables - carrots, beets, cucumbers, okra and the list goes on. With these cucumbers I decided to do some spears and burger chips. 

I started by washing them then slicing them the way I want to pickle them. The spears I just cut lengthwise into slices and the burger chips I sliced on my mandolin. 

I washed and sterilized my jars ina boiling water bath. 

The smell of fresh dill is so amazing. I also picked this up at the farmers market. 

I got my water bath set up and on high. Then I made my brine. 

Pickling Brine

4 cups white vinegar
4 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup pickling & preserving salt

Bring all ingredients to a boil. 

In each jar I put:

1 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon pickling spice
1 head fresh dill

1 dried pepper (I like them spicy but this can be omitted)

Once the herbs and spices are crammed at the bottom I fill the jar with the pickle slices. I make sure to fit them in there nice.

Once all the jars are filled I fill them with hot brine and put the lids and bands on. They go into the water bath (make sure they are completely submerged) for 10 minutes. Pull them out and let them cool on the counter. Now let them sit for at least 3 months and you have amazing pickles!