Homemade Sweet Pickle Recipe

I love pickles. When my mom and I went grocery shopping at the beginning of the summer, I rushed to the pickle aisle. Upon discovering me, she almost endured a small heart attack before asking "you're not pregnant, are you!?". No Mother, who says I have to be preggo to enjoy a pickle?--what an awful and misunderstood stigma that a Claussen pickle has to be associated with. Pickles are everyone friendly, knocked up or not.

Since I'm becoming quite the farmer and living off the land, why not make my own pickles. Plus, my cucumbers are latching onto everything in sight (my tomato plants, trees, small children) and I need a good reason to harvest 'em. So, I've acquired a nifty, little, sweet pickle recipe from a friend. All you have to do is shove 'em in the fridge for two weeks and they're ready to munch.

I have never pickled anything. The only thing I think that should be pickled is, well, pickles (hence the name).  The pickled beets, pigs feet, eye balls, etc. in the grocery aisles just seem to float in their jars like something from a Potions class at Hogwarts, aka they skeeve me out. I never saw myself as one to pickle anything, but I suppose there's a first for everything. I'm going to document my pickling experience with pictures from my high-tech Blackberry, 3.2 MP, camera (note the sarcasm if you missed it). Here we go.

Ingredients:

Cucumbers

Kosher salt

Onions

Sugar

White vinegar

Celery seeds

Whole cloves and;

A jar

...pretty simple, I like.

 I didn't have a jar so I'm recycling! The onions are from my garden, I used red and white ones. I cut up the cucumbers and, luckily, left enough after kidnapping a few for a snack...so good!

The recipe called for 2 tablespoons of salt mixed with 12 sliced cucumbers. Well,  my garden isn't industrial sized (yet) and I didn't have 12, I had 5; and unfortunately, I read that little detail after I added my salt; so my pickles will either be salty troopers or salt blocks, oh well. If using less cucumbers, guesstimate the amount of salt but I would say about 1 tablespoon. Then mix in about a cup of chopped onions. After all is mixed, let it stand for 1.5 - 2 hours while you twiddle your thumbs.

While waiting, mix 3 1/2 cups of sugar (remember!, this is only when using 12 cucumbers! I only used 1 cup for 5 cucumbers), 2 cups of vinegar (I scaled down to a cup), 1 tsp. of celery seeds and ground cloves in a separate bowl.

My co-chef

2 hours later...

Drain the cucumbers and then place them in the jar...and finally(!) pour the vinegar mixture over the cucumbers and screw on the lid. Give it a shake, and place that puppy (jar, not my dog) in the refrigerator.

Viola!--my perfect pack of pickled pickles. See ya in two weeks! 

*Update!* Just tried my pickles and they're delicious! Pickle perfection :)