Homemade Dill Pickles

We all eagerly await pickle season, there is nothing like the crispy crunchy tangy dilly taste of a fresh dill pickle!! This year, unbeknownst to us, we planted English cucumbers. Not good for pickles at all! So we have to rely on our local farmer's market for our cucumbers.

The best way to make crispy pickles is to put the cucumbers on ice for half an hour before canning. And even though the "official" sources can't recommend it, it is best to not hot water can your pickles. They get soggy and who wants soggy pickles?!

After you have your jars sterilized and hot and all ingredients are ready, it is time to start packing!



Start with a few springs of fresh dill and 2-3 cloves of garlic in the bottom of the jar. Pack in as many cold cucumbers that will fit, place more dill and more garlic on top and pour hot vinegar/water/salt brine over everything. Then quickly place hot lids on jars and screw rings on tight.


All done and ready to cool! Now comes the hard part...... waiting for the cucumbers to turn into pickles!! And trying not to eat them all in one month!

Pickle Brine Recipe
 6 cups of water
3 cups of vinegar
1/2 cup canning salt
1/2 tsp alum
Makes enough for 4-5 quart jars.
(We are always on the hunt for the perfect pickle recipe, this one is our current favorite.)

Word to the wise: Quart jars take a lot longer to seal then pint jars!! In other words, You have to be more patience with pickles then with jam to hear the tops pop. In other words, One doesn't need to panic after 30-40 minutes if they haven't popped, there is no need to dump them all out and re-heat the jars and brine thinking that it wasn't hot enough. Yes, it is true, we have done that too!

Nectarine-Honey Experiment

I was at it again in the kitchen, with nectarines and honey this time. I did measure a few things but sort of made it up as I went along. I found some fabulous nectarines on sale at our local grocery. We couldn't get any peaches this year, well not any that I felt were good enough to preserve.
The nectarines were fabulous though, so I substituted them in a peach jam recipe. Then I realized I didn't have bottled lemon juice, so I used real lemons as I didn't want to go back to the store. I am not sure why the recipes call for bottled lemon juice .A word about lemon juice that I heard from my mother-in-law; Make sure to read the ingredients, your generic store brand may sell a bottle that is not 100% lemon juice!
Another substitute was honey. I make the low-sugar jam anyway, but I decided to add one cup of sugar only and one cup of honey. I wasn't sure how the honey would flavor the jam but I don't think you will notice. I also left the skins on the nectarines, it added more color to the jam and they boiled down anyway.

From left to right a few canning essentials: A good apron made by sister, a magnetized stick for fishing the lids out of the simmering water. What is that called anyway? A ladle, better if its a brighter color only because it seems more exciting. Tongs to grab the jars out of boiling water, rings for the jars and a crocheted pot holder that I use to hold the hots jars while I am screwing on the lids.

Here you can see how beautiful the jam looks.  Sadly you can't smell how great it is, I certainly enjoyed it. I was trying to get another shot of the great apron with its cool buttons that fasten at the waist, no ties to get in the way.

 And success! Love hearing those lids give a satisfied pop. After all the jam was canned, I realized that I hadn't even tasted it so I made a piece of toast, then I made another one, my husband ate both of them and I only had an empty plate to photograph. I got the idea that it was a successful experiment. Maybe you will make some and let me know how it turns out.