Dill Pickles

My oldest daughter Amy has fully embraced gardening and then canning her garden produce, making pickles, relishes, beans, salsa, tomato sauces and jams. The recipe I am sharing with you today comes from the book Saving the Seasons, written by Mary Clemens Meyer and Susanna Meyer and published by Mennomedia , also the publisher of our cookbooks. It is wonderful to be on the receiving end of her labour of love. Delicious!!

• 8-10 small pickling cucumbers (about 3 pounds / 1.5 kg)
• 2 cups / 500 ml white vinegar
• 2 cups / 500 ml water
• 2 tablespoons pickling salt
• 4 sprigs fresh dill or 4 teaspoons dill seeds *
• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds
• 4 small cloves garlic *

1. Cut a thin slice from the ends of each cucumber. 
2. Combine vinegar, water and salt in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.
3. Place 1 sprig of fresh dill in each jar (or 1 teaspoon dill seeds), as well as 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seeds and 1 clove of garlic. Pack the jar with cucumbers.
4. Boil the vinegar and water and pour over the cucumber leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. 
5. Process the jars in a water bath, boiling the 1 pint / 500 ml jars for 10 minutes and the 1 quart / 1 L jars for 15 minutes. 
6. This recipe makes 4 pint jars. 

* Amy added more garlic and dill than the recipe suggested for added flavor.