Storm Pickles

A wicked little autumn storm came upon us the other day--just as Beeper and I were preparing to run to the grocery. All manner of drama going on up in the clouds, and the wind a-blowin. I actually hate big storms due to some bad weather experiences when I was little, so when I see clouds like that, I get jumpy. But I try to disguise this from Beeper so he too does not develop the same fear of big storms I have. Happily nothing much came of it other than a sound soaking for the soil, some thunder and some good puddle-jumping. Yup--no fear in that face.

While waiting for the storm to abate, I decided to make my first ever batch of pickles with some lovely little cucumbers I had remaining from an earlier farmer's market purchase.

The recipe I made was a quick refridgerator pickle recipe--I think it took me all of about 10 minutes to make it. But prep time is no indicator of the level of deliciousness of these pickles. I am so in love with these pickles, I've been eating them like I am expecting our second child. And I actually feel mournful I did not discover the recipe sooner because I feel like I should have been making these every single week, all summer long--or maybe even every single week since I was first able to reach the counter and hold a knife and slice a cucumber.
The recipe I used was from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook. It went something like this:

• 4-6 cucumbers, sliced into chunks (or thicker slices, like I did)
• bunch of fresh dill
• 12 whole black peppercorns
• 1 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1 garlic clove thinly sliced.

You put the cucumbers and dill together into a bowl or pack them into a canning jar as I did. Then you basically mix everything else except the garlic together and heat it on the stove until the salt and sugar dissolve. Then toss in the garlic and bring the whole shebang to a boil. Remove it from the heat and pour it over your cukes. There will not be enough liquid to cover your cucumbers in a jar, so you will need to shake it around every now and again so all the cucumbers can get some exposure to the vinegar solution.

We are on day 3 of these pickles now, and the flavor just seems to keep getting better, and the cucumbers keep getting crunchier. If you like pickles, I tell you, you HAVE TO try this recipe. So good.