What do you do with all of those left over cucumbers you have from your garden?  That's what my co host Cathy Kates was trying to figure out.  I offered to help her out and use my mom's recipe for easy to make refrigerator pickles!  Check out how easy this is.

The reason they are called refrigerator pickles is because they need to stay refrigerated.  It doesn't actually go through the canning process.  In this case we used jars just because they are easy to store.  The pickles if made correctly below, can last up to a year in the fridge.

There are two ways to do it.  You can either make them and put them in an ice cream pail, or in quart jars.    It both starts the same way.  Clean the cukes, cut them as you desire, and then prep the following containers.

For the ice cream pail:

4-6 dill heads

1/2 teaspoon of mustard seed

5 garlic cloves

1 large onion, sliced

1/2 teaspoon of peppercorns

8-12 cucumbers

For the quart jars, prepared separately:

1 dill head

1/8 teaspoon of mustard seed

1 garlic clove

1 slice of onion

5 peppercorns

cucumbers, (what will fit in jar.)

 

The next part is preparing the brine.   Combine 1 1/2 quarts  of water, 2 cups of white vinegar,  1/2  cup of canning salt  in a large  pot.  Bring it to a boil.  Then pour the brine over the cucumbers in their container.  If you are  using the pail method, put a plate or a saucer in the pail to  keep the cucumbers from floating.  Let it sit  uncovered for three days at room temperature.   Then cover, refrigerate, and enjoy for up to one year.

They taste pretty good!

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