Easy Dill Pickles

Making pickles is not difficult no matter what you choose. Dill pickles are especially easy.

The key to good pickles is fresh crisp cucumbers from your local farmers market. They don't have to be pickling cucumbers. Small slicing cucumbers will do just fine.

Here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

1. Fresh cucumbers - 3 pounds, sliced into chips
2. Sprigs of dill or dill seed - 1 per jar
3. Garlic cloves - 1 per jar
4. Onion - 2 medium, sliced thin
5. Jalapeno - 1 per batch (optional)
6. Red Sweet Pepper - 4 per batch
7. Mustard Seed -  2 tablespoons
8. Celery seed - 1 teaspoon (optional)
9. Organic white vinegar - 1 quarts
10. 12 pint mason jars with lids and rings

Directions:

1. Combine vinegar, mustard seed, celery seed in sauce pan and bring to a boil
2. Cut up garlic, jalapeno, red pepper into small bite sized pieces
3. Mix veggies with cucumber chips
4. add sprig of dill or dill seed into bottom of the jar.
5. Pack tightly into jars leaving 1/2 inch at the top
6. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumber & veggie packed jars leaving 1/4 inch at the top (cover veggies).
7. Use a thing knife to get air bubbles out of the jars (refill with hot vinegar)
8. Amount of vinegar mix will vary depending on how tight you pack the jars. Add more vinegar as needed,
9. Process in a water bath for 15 minutes after the bath starts to boil. Make sure jars are covered by water.
10. Remove and let cool. Make sure jars seal. If a jar doesn't seal, refrigerate and use these within several weeks. I made 50 jars of pickles and they all sealed, so not having one seal is fairly rare.
11. If there are any cucumber & veggies left over you can use any remaining vinegar to make refrigerator pickles. Which are unprocessed and will keep in the frig for several weeks,

Let pickles rest for 3 days before use (or use right away, they just won't be as zesty). Enjoy.

Canned pickles should be used within one year.