In a Pickle

I adore cucumber pickles. There’s nothing quite like the crispness of a cool, fresh pickle on a summer afternoon.

The neighbors gifted a ton of garden-fresh cucumbers in exchange for gathering their mail one weekend (I still think I came out wayyyy on top here). I love a good fresh cucumber, but pickles steal my heart even more. I decided to take matters into my own hands.

Time to make the pickles.

After consulting my favorite canning website (Pick Your Own), I found a cucumber pickle recipe that looked simple enough to try. The only part I didn’t like: it recommends using a packaged set of herbs and spices.

Instead, I found an easy-to-follow pickling spice recommendation on ehow.

It calls for 8 different spices. I had most of the ingredients already (and honestly substituted the whole allspice with ground allspice since it’s what I had).

I mixed the dry spices and then combined them with a quart (4 cups) of vinegar. I heated the vinegar/spices mix for about 20 minutes. It smells delicious. 

I loved the vinegar/spices mix so much that I used the leftover bit (not much) as a marinade for my steak! So, so good.

I cut up the cucumbers from our neighbor’s garden into sizeable spear chunks (making sure to leave about an inch of space at the top of the wide-mouth Ball jar), and also cut some rounds.

Pack the pickles in each jar, pour the warm vinegar/spices solution over each, tighten the lid and process in a water bath canner for about 15 minutes.

The hardest part? Waiting at least 2 weeks to try these. Canning is all about patience! I hope to make more cucumber pickles using this same spice combination so I can enjoy these all winter long.