Pickles Revisited

Most of my family LOVES pickles...and I must admit that I'm willing to take that to extremes sometimes. As my husband commented to the FB universe this summer..."My wife will pickle anything".
He's pretty close to the truth.

When it came harvest time this year - as characterized by having so much produce in the house that it causes fear and induces dreams of never eating anything but again - it is time to pickle.
To save some time for myself this year I used only the 2 brines that I used last year and posted here. What I changed was the veggies I used.

Into the Sweet'nSalty Brine I tossed:
Cauliflower florets
Zucchini
Kohlrabi
Daikon Radish
Beans
Pepper Slices

The Garlic Dill Brine got:
Cauliflower
Cucumber
and Beans

The beans were blanched after last year's beans shrivled after a few months. They were still tasty but didn't look very pretty. And, since I'd never pickled cauliflower before I did 50/50 blanched vs raw.

I have also made a late addition to the Garlic Dills....after picking the green tomatoes off of the vines at the end of the season, I put all of the green cherry tomatoes into the brine. I cut x's on the bottom of the tomatoes so that there would be a means for the brine to penetrate the tough tomato skin easier, and early taste-tests have proven to be pretty yummy!

Easy Refridgerator Pickles - 2 styles

Garlic Dills

1Qt Water

1/2 C Salt

1 C white vinegar

8-12 Pickling Cucumbers

Garlic & Dill to taste

1-2 Quart Size Mason Jars / Jars from Tomato Sauce or any Large container

(I used a plastic container initially and moved them to jars after I found some that would work)

Wash pickles, quarter and put in jars with garlic and dill.

Mix salt, water and vinegar and pour over pickles filling jars. (Any large jars will do.)

Leave pickles at room temperature for 3 days.

Refrigerate after that.

Sweet & Salty Slices (with mixed veggies)

sliced onions

green peppers, cut in strips

Green or Yellow Beans

Daikon Radish slices

AND

Enough sliced cucumber to fill a gallon jar (do not peel cucumbers)

4 c. sugar

3 c. vinegar

1/3 c. pickling salt (not iodized)

1 tsp. turmeric

1 1/2 tsp. celery seed

1 tsp. mustard seed

If you don't have a gallon jar you can also use Quart or Pint sized Mason jars...of course any jars will do as these will not be sealed.

Wash and slice veggies and put them in your jars.

(I made 1 jar with just yellow beans and onion slices, and put a mix of veggies in the other jars)

Mix sugar, vinegar and spices together in a pitcher or bowl with a spout until sugar is dissolved.

Pour liquid over vegetables in jar.

Mixture may not completely cover pickles, that's ok.

Refridgerate.

Ready to eat the next day.

Will keep all winter in refrigerator.

In the picture these don't look as yellow as they became later from the tumeric. They are both very yummy!