Niece Sommer was Busy Making

35 jars homemade dill pickles in Texas! Granny Mildred's recipe!!

Recipe found here: 

http://foodgratitude.blogspot.com/2008/06/quick-dill-pickles.html

Making Dill Pickles at Possum Kingdom

Bob and I went to the lake for a few days to visit Linda Kay and Skip last week. Linda Kay called before we left and said, "Let's make some dill pickles!" So, as we were leaving the metroplex, Bob and I stopped at the Farmer's Market in Haltom City located at 5507 E. Belknap Street.





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They have wonderful fruits and vegetables, honey, jams and jellies, potted plants, and all sorts of goodies that I always enjoy looking at when I visit their family-owned and operated business located between my home and Fort Worth. But I'm getting off-track. I stopped by to purchase some cucumbers, dill, and garlic. They had just what I needed. Shubert ran in before I got off the cell-phone and I knew if I didn't follow him quickly I'd end up with regular size cucumbers instead of the pickling size.

I found him bagging up the wrong ones just in time! We bought about 10 pounds of cucumbers, a sleeve of 5 heads of garlic (it was a better buy but we only used one) and a handful of fresh dill. We stopped by a local Kroger grocery store and bought a gallon of apple cider vinegar. Luckily, I had 13 or 14 pint jars left from last October's pear preserves. I also had a brand new box of Mason lids and rings which we could use. We were all set.

Linda Kay and I didn't get started on our pickles until later in the day on Friday. After all, we had to watch Young and the Restless first!

We had a great time. We made 2 recipes and used all of the cucumbers and all of the jars I had taken to the lake. We put black peppercorns in the pickle strips to see if we liked the taste. I brought half of the pickles home with me and she kept half. Of course, we have to wait at least 7 days to let the flavors meld before trying our pickles! We used Mildred's Quick Dill Pickle recipe which I have posted here. Hope you will try them and let me know what you think.




Photographs by Judith Richards Shubert, July 2009 (c)

29 Pints of Dill Pickles!

Well, I made dill pickles yesterday. Had to search our local vegetable markets to find fresh dill, but my husband was finally successful. He found 3 large bags at a fruit and vegetable market on Hwy. 26 in Colleyville, just 20 minutes from us.

My neighbor and her husband gave me the cucumbers with a promise from me to supply the neighborhood with dill pickles! She gave me enough to make 29 pints. That's a pretty large batch of pickles! It took me about 8 hours from start to finish and my feet and back hurt like crazy when I finished. But all of those pretty little glass jars look great on the kitchen counter.

Remember, I posted the recipe here several days ago. This recipe is one of my favorites. Our Mom, Mildred, always had them on her pantry shelf and an opened jar in the refrigerator.

Come on by ~ I'll let you taste them ~ maybe even take a jar home with you.

Quick Dill Pickles

Gardening season is upon us. Soon there will be enough cucumbers in the garden that I thought a good pickle recipe was in order.

3 quarts water
1 cup salt
1 quart cider vinegar
1 head dill for each jar
1 garlic clove for each jar
cucumbers

Bring water, salt and vinegar to boil in big pot. Cut and slice cucumbers into spears or rounds. Place in clean jars. Add dill and garlic to jars. Use some kind of dipper to scoop up enough liquid for each jar to pour over cucumbers, dill and garlic.

Jars and lids need to be heated in boiling water for a few minutes so you will get a good “seal” when closing. Jars must be proper canning jars such as Kerr or Ball brand. You may use these jars if left over from last pickling session, but you need to purchase new lids and rims.

After sealing, immediately cover the pickle jars with a towel so they will not cool off too quickly. You will be able to hear the lid pop. This means they have sealed properly.

Let the pickles set for at least seven days before eating.

This is one of Mildred's recipes. One summer Ann and I made so many quarts of these we thought we were dreaming about pickles. But they disappeared quickly. Everyone likes them (if they like dill pickles)! Try them. They are not as difficult to make as it sounds!