Refrig Pickles

Cucumbers------>Pickles

One day's harvest.

Earlier this week I tried out a recipe for refrigerator pickles from the food preservation/canning book my coworker got me. That book is awesome! And the recipe was fantastic--I tasted the pickles for the first time tonight. AMAZING. Crunchy, tangy, sweet, salty...I love pickles. My husband hates pickles--the taste and the smell (and, warning, the smell permeated the house when I made these.).

(FYI, Tonight I had the pickles chopped up and added to a salad of red leaf lettuce, carrots, chick peas, walnuts, cranberries, and tuna. Side dish: sorta home made [bread machine] whole wheat-oatmeal-molasses bread with butter and my jam!]) (BTW, I don't take pictures of food when I am very hungry and about to eat it, so you'll just have to imagine those things.)

Soon-to-be pickles

The pickles were made using cucumbers from our freaking amazing work garden--that thing pumps out cucs like you wouldn't believe (see first photo). Or maybe you would believe it, but all I can say is that I'm glad I'm sharing the cucumbers. Geez.

Grandma's pot still going strong!

The gist of the refrigerator pickles I made (ingredients and further direction below) is this:

Slice cucs
Mix together pickling liquid and boil it
Pour hot liquid over cucs (and onions in this case) in large bowl
Let sit until cool enough to handle
Pack cucs and onions into jars
Pour liquid over
Close jars
Refrigerate for at least 24 hours, ideally 2 weeks---eat. Consume within 3 months.

Less mess than canning jam.

Small warm-blooded kitchen visitors are still of another species in this house.

I'm not sure, they might look kind of gross, but they look better in person and taste fantastic!

This recipe is taken from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving--

Easy Zesty Bread and Butter Chunks (mine are slices/spears)

1/4 cup pickling spice (place in a cheesecloth bag)

6 cups trimmed pickling cucumbers (I cut mine into slices)

1 onion peeled and sliced

3 cups vinegar

2/3 cup sugar

2 T salt

1 T prepared horseradish

1 T celery seeds

2 t ginger

1 tsp tumeric

Place cucs and onion in a big bowl.

Put everything else in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat, cover and boil gently for 5 minutes. 

Pour liquid over cucs and onion, cover with waxed paper and let sit for about 30 minutes. Discard spice bag.

Pack cucs and onion into jars, ladle liquid over. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before eating--best after 2 weeks. Eat within 3 months.