Well, church work is chaotic, that is for sure. Suddenly a year has passed by! During our hiatus from blogging, our gardens have slept through a winter and risen again with great vigor. It was a warm winter, a cold spring and a rainy summer. Get ready for photos, recipes and more!!
One of the blessings of our Free Garden Table is that we are able to accept gifts from farmers outside of our urban area and place them onto the table for church families and neighbors to take. There are some things which do not thrive in our city gardens (such as corn), and so this urban-rural partnership helps us to diversify the fruits and vegetables we have available.
This week we received a huge load of sweet corn, and tucked in the corner of the load was a big shopping bag full of pickling cucumbers. Some of the neighbors are avid picklers, and it will be fun to see what recipes emerge from this big batch of cukes. I ended up with a bag full, and decided to conduct a few pickling experiments of my own. The following recipes are for shelf-stable pickles. I typically like to can in smaller containers and use some pint jars, and some half-pints. I use jars that held pickles 50 years ago in my grandma's pantry. Other jars are recycled or new. I purchase lids and rims in bulk from Amazon. When canning, it is important to make sure all of the jars, lids and rims are washed and clean. I heat the jars in the boiling water which I use later for processing the filled jars.
With each pickle recipe, I pack the whole or sliced cucumbers into the jars, along with whatever herbs and spices I have chosen. Then I pour the hot brine over the cucumbers and herbs, filling the jars to 1/2 inch below the rim. Next the lids went on and the rims were screwed into place, but not too tightly. All of the pickle jars were placed into boiling water and processed for 20 minutes. The jars rest on a dish towel and the lids go "pop pop pop" as the seals form. The pickles rest on the counter for 24 hours to be sure the seals are set.
Now the challenge is...not to eat them before the winter! We will do a little taste testing to figure out how to tweak the recipes.
Pickle Brine
Water, apple cider vinegar, pickling salt.
Use in a ratio of
2 cups of water + 1 cup of vinegar + 1 Tablespoon of pickling salt
Bring to boiling. Pour into prepared pickle jars.
Whole Baby Dill Pickles #1
Place 1 large or 2 small dill flower heads (plus stems) into pint jars.
Add 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
Pack cleaned whole baby cucumbers loosely into the jar.
Fill with brine and process.
Whole Baby Dill Pickles #2
Place 1 or 2 small dill flower heads (plus stems) into pint jars.
Add 1-2 cloves of garlic
Add 1 full teaspoon pickling spice
Pack cleaned whole baby cucumbers loosely into the jar.
Fill with brine and process.
Whole Baby Dill Pickles #3
Place 1 or 2 small dill flower heads (plus stems) into pint jars.
Add 1/4 to 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes or part of a dried hot pepper
Add 1 full teaspoon pickling spice
Pack cleaned whole baby cucumbers loosely into the jar.
Fill with brine and process.
Sliced Garlic Chive Pickles
Slice the clean baby cucumbers into 1/4" slices
Pack into 1/2 pint jars
Add 1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
Add a little bundle of snipped garlic chives
Fill with brine and process.
Sliced Bread and Butter Pickles
Slice the clean baby cucumbers into 1/4" slices
Pack into 1/2 pint jars
Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon pickling spice
Fill with brine and process.
I use Penzeys pickling spice. And I grow my own herbs.
