Contributed by Cindy Iverson, Martinez Ward
One year we had a generous harvest of cucumbers (one of which was hooked over into a round fat "U" shape). My husband decided to try his hand at making some homemade pickles. He researched various recipes online and then created his own hybrid recipes of all of them. The recipe is as follows:
8 cups thinly sliced fresh cucumbers
1 medium onion
1 red bell pepper
2 cups sugar
2 cups distilled white vinegar
1 tsp Kosher salt (do NOT use iodized salt)
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp ground turmeric (for color)
1 tsp ground cloves
8-10 whole peppercorns
- Slice cucumbers, onion, and bell pepper and set aside in large bowl.
- Combine remainder of ingredients in a medium saucepan and heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves and mixture is at a slow boil.
- Shut off heat immediately.
- Combine heated mixture with vegetables in the large bowl and let cool to room temperature.
- When cooled, transfer to an airtight container and store in refrigerator for at least 24 hours before serving.
- Will keep in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks (but it won't last that long).
"The pickles are sweet--but not too sweet. The peppercorns add a nice little bit of heat along with the slight edge of the red bell pepper. These pickles taste much fresher than the pickles you find at the grocery store. Of course, you can't beat the crunch. They're very crunchy. They would be great on hamburgers although they're tasty right out of the container. It was a grand experiment that actually worked this time. That's all I have to say about that..."Apparently, he's the Forrest Gump of pickle-making.
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