Pickles!

• 

This year, I decided to grow some herbs and see if any veggies would grow. Although the carrots appear to be a dud as well as the lettuce, I have a bumper crop of cucumbers. I'm not a huge fan of cucumbers - I like cucumber water- but I love dill pickles. Consequently, I also planted a lot of dill. :-)

Currently in my garden, I have strawberries, two different types of basil, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, mint, dill, and cucumbers growing in my yard. At first, it was just a couple of cute leaves for the cucumbers so I didn't think much of it. Then, last month, it seemed the cucumbers took over the garden. So much so, I had to move the rosemary, sage, and oregano! Everyday, I have to go outside and redirect the vines - which are still growing and still have new yellow flowers on them.

This week, two cucumbers, pictured above, were ready to be picked. As you can tell, these are pretty fat cucumbers (maybe all the rain we've been getting? I haven't had to water the garden in about two months now...). I decided to pickle them because I really just don't like plain cucumbers. I'll eat them but they aren't a fav.

So, to pickle them, I ended up needing two pickle jars and two batches of the below recipe. I used a combination of the recipe from Instructables on how to make dill pickles and The Kitchen.

1. First, I washed and cut the cucumbers into quarters and then in half.  This made them small enough to fit in the jars.   Barely.  
2. I then soaked the cut pieces of cucumber in water in a bowl in the fridge for a couple of hours.  This makes for some excellent cucumber water later on.   
3. I boiled the jars I was going to use in my soup pot because I really don't have anything else.   They are just leftover pickle jars.
4. I then got some fresh dill and four garlic cloves; pressing the cloves and putting all of that in the jars.
5. Taking the cucumbers out of the fridge, I placed them in the jars.

The brine:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of salt

The above is what I used as the pickle juice. I brought it to a boil on the stove and then, while it was still hot, poured it over the cucumbers (remember, the dill and garlic are already in there), sealed up the jars, and stuffed them in the fridge. You'll need a towel or pot holder because it will all be hot as you put it in the fridge.

Now, to wait! I'm hoping to take a jar to Pennsic. They should be well and soaked by next week. We'll see!