Pretty Pickles

Cucumbers actually came into fruition this summer while dill was still fresh. Usually it seems like the dill is drying up by the time we have cucumbers. In the past dill pickles have good flavor, but sometimes are a little too mushy. Mom says they didn’t use a water bath to preserve them, so this time I tried grandma’s recipe. I chilled the cucumbers in ice water in a cooler for (“at least 2 and not more than 8 hours”) as we had gleaned from last year’s “perfect pickle recipe”. Then each sterilized jar got filled with cukes, a head of dill, a grape leaf, a couple of garlic cloves and peppercorns; then covered with boiling brine. Two jars didn’t seal I think because a little bit of pickle was sticking up a little too far, so those are now in the fridge. The rest, we will wait 6 weeks to know how they taste. But we already know they are definitely pretty.