Dill Pickle Spears

The summer and fall at my parent’s house involved a lot of food preservation. It was almost like Little House in the Big Woods:). I absolutely loved it. My Mom would make jam from all the berries we picked, applesauce, apple chips and apple filling from the apples from our very own trees, and of course, she would pickle all kinds of things from the abundant garden supply.

I’m sure it was A LOT of work for her, but for me it was a beautiful sight to see. I loved watching her fill the jars with vegetables and then pouring the brine over them. The rows of colorful jars all filled and ready to go in the cellar always made me feel like we were really rich. I always secretly resonated with all the early settlers of America or even my own ancestors back in Belarus, who had to work so hard to make sure they had enough to feed their families throughout the long, harsh winters.

Of course, now we won’t starve if we don’t pickle our vegetables or store them in bins in the cellar. The shelves of our grocery stores are bursting with many varieties of whatever kind of food we could ever dream of. However, it’s still a lot cheaper to pickle your own food and the taste of homemade can’t even compare to store bought. You will never, ever taste store bought pickles that will even closely resemble home made pickles. I have always loved all kinds of pickled food, and the Slavic recipes are my absolute favorite.

Serves: 3 (1 quart) jars

Ingredients

• 3 lbs kirby cucumbers
• 1 bunch fresh dill
• 9 garlic cloves
• 1½ Tablespoons pickling spice
• 1 Tablespoon black peppercorns
• Marinade:
• 6½ cups water
• 6 Tablespoons sugar
• 2½ Tablespoons fine sea salt
• ¾ cup white vinegar

Instructions

Sterilize your canning jars and lids. You can do that by submerging the jars completely in water, bringing the water to a boil and then cooking them for 15 minutes. Be careful with the lids; I usually bring a pot of water to a boil, take it off the heat and let the lids stay in the boiling water for 10-15 minutes also. I used 3 (1 quart) jars for this recipe.
Cut the cucumbers into spears. If your cucumbers aren't straight from the garden and are just a bit soft, put them into really cold water and they will become really crisp and firm again.
Add 3 cloves of garlic, ½ Tablespoon of pickling spice and ⅓ Tablespoon of black peppercorns to each sterilized jar. Add some dill to each of the jars as well. Fill each jar with the cucumbers.
Meanwhile, in a medium-large pot, bring the water, sugar and salt to a boil. As soon as the marinade boils and all the salt and sugar dissolve, pour in the vinegar. (Note: I used sea salt for this recipe. You can also use pickling salt or regular table salt, just make sure that they do not contain iodine, which will cause a chemical reaction and your garlic will turn blue/green. There's nothing wrong with it and it's still safe to eat, but you might get weird looks from family of guests.)
Pour the marinade over the cucumbers in each jar, making sure that there is at least an inch of marinade at the top.
Seal the jars with the lids. Store at room temperature for at least 12 hours and then you can keep it in the refrigerator, if you'd like.
The pickles are ready to eat in 1-2 days, since they are cut into spears the marinade penetrates them really quickly. Store opened jars of pickles in the refrigerator.

Source:

http://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/appetizers/dill-pickle-spears/