ljcfyi

Pickled

Spurred on by the success of our sweet pickles, Aaron and I decided to make dill pickles. (For those of you who have asked, the sweet pickles turned out great. The jar I sent home with Joel is now 80% gone...)

First the cukes were quartered and soaked overnight, then I jammed them into jars with dill, mustard seed, garlic and alum. (what the heck is alum you ask? I am not entirely sure. I was just relieved that it wasn't a derivative of aluminum).

We cooked up a pot of vinegar and salt and poured it into each jar. These pickles had to be canned as opposed to the sweet pickles that stayed in the fridge. They take 4 to 6 months to cure so I made little tags that say "Do not open until January 11, 2003" to hang on each jar. I may also have to send out reminder emails... "Eat your pickles!"