Homemade Pickles, Shared with Neighbors and Friends.

Dill Pickles
These pickles are best served with good company.

Brine:
4 T sugar
4 C vinegar
1 G water
.75 C pickling salt (I used sea salt)

Boil brine for 5 minutes—rolling.
Remove 8 qt jars from their sanitized spa day in the oven (200°).

Put in jars:
1 or 2 dried red chilies
2 or 3 peeled garlic cloves
A sprig of fresh dill
Anything else that you like pickled and think might look pretty:
Beans (in their pods)
Carrots, particularly “real” carrots—heirloom varieties like Purple Haze or Dragon’s Blood will leach a pink color into the brine that I think is divine.
Okra
And finally, cucumbers—as many as you can cram in.

Pour brine into jars—up past the bottom thread on the lip.
Remove air bubbles by poking and/or gently pounding.
Place sterilized lids on the jars.

Throw yourself down on the couch (mine has a fire going in it now through spring).
Ignore your kitchen mess.
Read a good book.
Wait for that heavenly pop sound of your jars sealing.

I got this recipe from my mother, Patricia Ann Burlingame, who got it from “Charlene Rast, Creston, BC” in the early 1980s.

My mother says to wait six months before eating, but I believe three is plenty.