Garlic Dill Pickles

These are for you, Nikki.

I had no idea how to make pickles. Now that I know how easy it is, I regret not planting cucumbers this year. Organic cucumbers in grocery stores are so expensive! I bought 4 anyways, and with some dill from my pallet garden and a few other things from the pantry I got to work. I used a glass jar that I already had (I never dispose of glass jars, I always use them for something!), and Mason Jars. If you plan on canning them, use sanitized Mason jars. I just left these in the fridge, since I know they wouldn't last long in our house.

For $2 a cucumber, these pickles better be good.

I grew dill precisely for pickles.

To make the most of the cucumbers, I cut them down to size to fit inside the jars before slicing them into spears. I took the extra pieces and sliced them into rounds, and filled a jar with these slices. I hope you can visualize this, as I suck at taking pictures of all the steps along the way.

Two tips: first, cut about 1/4 inch off the end of the cucumber. It keeps them crisper. Second, if you run out of vinegar/water solution, you can add more to cover the cucumbers, but keep the 3:1 ratio.

Slice off the ends.

Garlic Dill Pickles

Makes 3 jars

• 4 cucumbers
• 1 large bunch of dill
• 3 garlic cloves
• Tsp. black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 cups distilled white vinegar
• 1 cup water

1. Slice the cucumbers into spears and/or chips.
2. Stuff them into glass jars, along with whole garlic cloves, dill, salt and peppercorns. This is all to taste. I divided the amounts listed in the ingredients between the 3 jars.
3. Add the vinegar and water together and pour into the jars until they cover the cucumbers.
4. Refrigerate for at least a week before eating. The longer they sit, the less "bite" they have to them.