Easy Pickles - Preserve Fresh Cucumbers

Easy Homemade Pickles

These are dill pickles with a hint of sweet.  The end of summer is a good time to buy cucumbers in bulk. Dill is a great herb to have in any garden that has some sun.  It reseeds itself in our garden every year.  The flowers are beautiful and in the late summer can be used for pickles. The small cucumbers are best for use in this recipe, but as long as they are organically grown, the large ones are good to use also.

Ingredients:

• About 3 lbs organic pickling cucumbers sliced into ¼ inch thick slices
• 2 cp organic white vinegar
• 2 cp water
•  2 tbl salt
• 1 ½ tbl organic sugar
• 1 tbl peppercorn, coriander, mustard seed
• 3 or 4 large dill flowers or a bunch of dill
• About 2 cloves garlic cut into slices

Optional – cayenne (added to vinegar mixture) or a little sliced hot pepper in each jar to taste

Combine vinegar, water, salt, sugar and dry spices in a nonreactive saucepan.  Bring to a boil.  Meanwhile slice the cucumbers with the skin on into ½ to ¼ inch slices.  Use a very large, very clean glass jar or several small ones.    Place some dill flowers or fresh dill in each jar as well as some garlic.  Place the sliced cucumbers into the jar and poor the hot vinegar solution onto the slices.  After they cool a little cover the jar with a lid and keep refrigerated.