Pickles!!!!

This year I'm attempting something I've never done before which is making pickles! I'm making refrigerator dill pickles, and with a nod to my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage, Pennsylvania Dutch pickled beets and eggs.

Dill Pickles

The dill pickles were inspired by combining the recipes and methods from the recipes here and here. I read over the reviews and started by slicing the cukes into spears and the soaking them in ice water in the fridge for the better part of the day which is supposed to help keep them crisp. For the brine I combined the following:

4 cups water
3.5 cups white vinegar
3.5 Tbs. coarse salt
3 packages fresh dill, chopped (4 sprigs reserved)
2 Tbs. dried dill (as I didn't have enough fresh)
6 bay leaves, crumbled
12 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs. pickling spices
4 tsp. dill seed

I omitted the sugar because I wanted a more classic dill pickle flavor and the extra red pepper flakes because the little kidlets won't eat things that are too spicy. Had they just been for Brian and I, I would have made them hot, hot, hot!

I combined the ingredients and brought the brine to a boil while I packed the cucumbers and dill sprigs into the jar. (half gallon pickle jar that I normally store rice in but happened to be empty) I had to do this in two layers and get creative with the placement so I would be able to fit everything in there. Next time I'm going to see if I can find a larger glass jar to do this in! I ended up with slightly more brine than needed so I strained off the spices and packed those into the jar so that they would season the pickles as well. Then I put the lid back on, gave it a good shake so the spices would work their way around the cucumbers and stuck it in the fridge.

I'll admit, they do look a little weird compared to what we normally get in the store. But the brine was tasty and the cucumbers were tasty...so in theory tasty × tasty = tasty² right?! In a week (if I last that long before giving in to temptation...) I'll be able to see if this worked.

Pennsylvania Dutch Pickled Beets and Eggs

So normally I either roast beets with other root veggies and herbs, or just have them plain boiled, but keeping in the spirit of the dill pickles I decided to give pickled beets a go too. When searching for a recipe I came across this one and immediately wanted to try it out. Like I mentioned earlier, this is a nod to my Pennsylvania Dutch heritage on my mother's side. Pickled eggs have been a quirky little fascination of mine lately anyway (eggs that are pickles?!) so it worked out quite nicely!

I started out by boiling the beets we'd picked for about 30 minutes and then peeling and slicing them. I slivered the onions because I thought that it would look prettier and work better when we go to eat them than chopped. I forgot to reserve the beet cooking water so I just used water. I'm hoping that it doesn't effect the flavor too much. I also only did 6 eggs because that's what we had in the house. Here is what I used for the brine: 1.5 cups water 1 onion, sliced 1 cup sugar 3/4 cup apple cider vinegar 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper 2 bay leaves 12 whole cloves I brought this all to a boil and then simmered for about 5 minutes. While that was going I layered the beets, onions, and eggs in my jar. When the brine was ready, I ladled it over the beets, covered it up, and stuck it in the fridge. These only take 2 days before they're ready!