The first pickles

Now I know for sure it's summer - I just canned my first two quarts of dill pickles! Aren't they gorgeous?

We have six cucumber plants in pots on the ledge on the front porch, so their vines can hang off the front of the house. They are starting to produce, and I think they're going to be prolific! Yay! More pickles.

My mom made the world's best dill pickles, as I've mentioned on this blog before. She, however, did a proper job of canning and preserving. We go though pickles too fast for that at our house - nothing needs to be preserved for months because it will be eaten long before that. So here's how I do the pickling.

• Sterilize your jars and lids in boiling water for 10 minutes. Then let them sit in the hot water while you prepare the brine.
• In a saucepan, bring a brine to a boil. For two quarts of pickles, I used 2 cups water, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 3/4 cup white vinegar, 1/4 cup good pure sea salt, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. That's a lot of vinegar, but that's what keeps bacteria from getting in your pickles, just in case you don't eat them right away.
• Take the jars out of the hot water and empty them. Stuff them with cucumbers (cut the flower end off and wash them first), heads of fresh dill, peeled garlic cloves, and a few peppercorns. I've also used dried little hot peppers. Leave an inch or so at the top.
• Ladle or pour the hot brine over the pickles and seasonings in jar. Leave 1/4 inch head room at the top. Seal tightly with your sterilized lids.

Let sit in a cool dark place (I put them in a cabinet in the basement) for two weeks before eating. After you open them, store them in the fridge. If they are too sour for your taste, drain the brine out of the jar you're using (after the two weeks of course) and fill it with water with a bit of sugar dissolved in it. Let it sit in the fridge for a few days and enough of the vinegar will leach out into the water to make them just right! Yum!

I've got my mom's old Ball Jar canning book, which would have been from the 1950s. There are a lot of cool recipes for various pickles and preserves in it, but even better is the "recipe" that's printed on the inside back cover. Here it is:

How to Preserve a Husband

 

Be careful in your selection. Do not choose too young. When selected, give your entire thoughts to preparation for domestic use. Some wives insist upon keeping them in a pickle, others are constantly getting them into hot water. This may make them sour, hard, and sometimes bitter; even poor varieties may be made sweet, tender and good, by garnishing them with patience, well sweetened with love and seasoned with kisses. Wrap them in a mantle of charity. Keep warm with a steady fire of domestic devotion and serve with peaches and cream. Thus prepared, they will keep for years.

 

Food for thought . . .how cute is that???