Refrigerator Pickles

Saturday morning I got up and went to the Farmer's Market.  It's a small town and a small market but there's usually some interesting stuff.

I talked to a lady selling sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls.  Hers isn't sour either... more sweet than anything but dang good homemade bread.  It had a flavor that's slightly different than what I make but mine is also really good and I love the simplicity of it too much to go looking for something different right now.  I also picked up a bottle of raw honey, more herbs for the garden and some fun little cucumbers just right for munching.  They are tiny and striped like a very miniature watermelon and the flavor is slightly lemon-like. It was a fun little snack!

And I got cucumbers to make refrigerator pickles.

3 bottles of Bread & Butter slices and 2 of Dill spears.  And, yes... those
are old spaghetti sauce jars.  Since the pickles aren't processed only a tight-
fitting lid is needed so these are perfect.  And cute with their reproduction
Atlas marks!  Maybe for next year I'll spray paint the lids like I did for
my spice jars and hide the "Classico" on them.

Now comes the hard part: waiting for them to be ready to eat.

I really love how simple refrigerator pickles are to make.  Anything to do with food that doesn't heat the house up in summer is a good thing!  I've made the Dill pickles for years.  It's a recipe handed down from a friend of my Mom's that is easy and delicious.  This is the first time I've made Bread & Butter pickles this way and I'm excited to get a taste and decide if the recipe is a keeper.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Pack whole small cucumbers OR spears OR slices cut from larger cukes into 1-quart jars with dill and sliced garlic according to your taste.

Add to each jar:
2 Tbl salt
1 cup vinegar (white or a half-n-half mix with cider vinegar is good)
1 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp alum
pinch of pickling spice

Fill each jar with cold water. Put on tight fitting lids (does not need to seal, just be airtight) and store in a cool, dark, dry place. Ready to eat after 3-4 weeks. Can be stored up to a year. I've also made 2 quarts worth directly in my old Tupperware PickleKeeper and put it in the back of the fridge for 3-4 weeks.

Refrigerator Bread & Butter Pickles

Thinly slice cucumber and sweet onion and layer them into 1-quart canning jar(s).  Be sure to pack the in the jar tightly as they will shrink when the hot brine is added.

For each jar you need to measure into a saucepan and bring to a steaming simmer, stirring until sugar is dissolved:
1 1/2 cups vinegar (I used half white and half cider vinegar)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp celery seed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric

Pour hot liquid over cucumbers and onions in jar,wipe rims and put tight fitting lids on.  Store in refrigerator.  Can be eaten after 48 hours.

For the Love of Pickles

I'm very sad today.  I'm realizing I didn't make nearly enough dill pickles last summer while there were cucumbers in the garden.  The Pickle Keeper is almost empty.  And it's only January.  That means it's 7 more months until there'll be cucumbers ready to pick out there again.

I might just cry.

Or break down and buy a few cucumbers at the grocery store...

Here's a peek inside my 1980's vintage 2-quart Tupperware Pickle Keeper.  If I find any of these at a thrift store or yard sale, I think I'd like to have a couple more.  They are lovely, wonderful, useful things.  Maybe Tupperware still makes them?  But if you know me you know that I am cheap, so I'll look around for awhile before I even consider getting a new one in this year's pretty designer colors.

Since there's no water bath processing involved, I'm not sure this really qualifies as canning but I've done it this way... well, since the '80s and have never had spoilage.  I've even cheated and re-used the brine.  Yikes! The pickle confessions are coming out!!

The recipe came to me from my Mother's good friend, Bea Williams.  The Williams' lived across the street from us in Idaho Falls when I was a little kid and she was always my (honorary) Aunt Bea.  I think I was well into school-age years before I realized we weren't really related.  Bea was a simple woman.  She worked hard all her life and had a very strong sense of right and wrong and exemplified the idea that you just treat people well.  She is one of the kindest and most generous adults I remember being part of my childhood.  Every kid should have an Aunt Bea!

To make Aunt Bea's pickles simply pack whole small cucumbers (or larger ones cut into wedges about that same size as you can see I did in the photo) into 1-quart jars with dill weed and sliced garlic according to your taste.

Add to each jar:
2 Tbl salt
1 cup vinegar
1 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp alum
pinch of pickling spice

Fill each jar with cold water. Put on caps and sealers and store in a cool, dark, dry place. Ready to eat after 3-4 weeks. Can be stored up to a year.

(I make a double batch directly in the Pickle Keeper and just push it to the back of the fridge for a few weeks.)

I linked this post to Homemaking Link-Up #59

And to the Weekend Bloggy Reading Link Up at Serenity Now