The Joys of Summer: Pecks of Pickles!

My "sun dills" are out on the deck sitting on the table, curing and will be put in the fridge on Saturday. 

GARDEN UPDATE:  We are finally starting to realize some reward for our work in the garden.  When first put in, the weather was cold, and very, very wet.  Then we seemed to have about a month of fair weather, and now, it is VERY hot and VERY dry.  It's difficult to keep two good-sized gardens watered, but so far we've been able to do it, thank goodness for a well.  

We are starting to harvest; zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, and the potatoes and the onions are just about ready to dig, meaning we may get a second crop in on that same spot.  I have also been getting a TON of peppers, we plant several varieties so we can use them in canning, so a lot of those have been washed, cored and chopped to keep in the freezer until the tomatoes are ready to come in and be processed.  Meanwhile, we can eat as much fresh of all these items as we want.  Summer is truly a wonderful season!


I am making pickles with some of the cukes, I rarely make canned pickles for the shelf, I am more inclined to make these for the fridge, I have better luck with them for some reason.  Today I am sharing a pickle recipe that I can make when I save the pickings for two or three days at a time.  I thought you might like it.

Do you have some cucumbers, but not enough for a whole canner full?   You can make sun dills!  I enjoy making these and better yet, we love eating them!  

But I can do a batch of these sun dills several times a summer.  

They actually turn out tasting better than any canned pickles I've made.

First you'll need a jar with a screw-on lid, this recipe is for a gallon.  I used these half-gallon jars, bought for me by my husband at the hardware store.  A half-dozen of these jars are priced under ten dollars. They work out well, because the half-gallon jars fit into our fridge much more easily.  I'll just put them back into the cardboard case when I'm done and use them again next summer.

The flavor of these pickles is an excellent garlic-flavored kosher--better than your best refrigerated dill at the grocery store.  A deli-dill pickle.  And they have crunch...brought on by those grape leaves!

CONNIE'S SUN DILLS

Two half-gallon jars or a one-gallon jar with screw-on lid
Wash pickles, cut out bad spots and leave whole
Grape leaves:  2-3 for each layer, washed
Fresh dill, washed (use generously!)
fresh garlic toes
About forty-fifty pickling cucumbers, or enough to fill a gallon jar, packed tightly

In the bottom of the jar start with a layer of 
GRAPE LEAVES, then
Heads of DILL,
1-2 garlic cloves,
Then PICKLES (I use small to medium picklers for this, NEVER large ones.)
Take the pickles halfway up the jar and then start over again with the grape leaves, dill, garlic, and end with the grape leaves on top, under the lid.

Then add this solution to the jar when it's stuffed with the pickles, dill, grape leaves and garlic cloves: 


6-1/2 cups water
3-1/4 cups white vinegar
1/2 c. Kosher salt
stir to dissolve salt and pour over and then seal the jar and set out in the sun for a week, turning once daily.  Refrigerate when done and ENJOY!

AND...for those cucumbers that get forgotten and picked too large, and are TOO BIG for being cute little dill pickles, there's this recipe for the fridge for a nice quick sweet/sour pickle to serve for dinner the next day, something quick and fresh.

OVERNIGHT BREAD AND BUTTER PICKLES

7-8 pickling cukes

1 onion, chopped

1 red pepper

1 T. Kosher salt

2 t. celery seed

1/2 c. honey

1/2 c. white vinegar

How about YOU?

GOT A PECK OF PICKLES?!

peck

¹    

[pek]  Show IPA

–noun

1.

a dry measure of 8 quarts; the fourth part of a bushel, equal to 537.6 cubic inches (8.81 liters).

2.

a container for measuring this quantity. Abbreviation:  pk, pk.

3.

a considerable quantity: a peck of trouble.