by Elizabeth Dengler, The Huckleberry Home
I’m thrilled to share with you all a guest recipe for this issue. It was given to me by my dear friend Dianne Cromwell of Caldwell, Idaho. The only way I could best figure out what to call her recipe is “Miracle Pickles”. Dianne recently came up for a visit and I was sharing with her how much I’d like to learn how to can veggies. It was never something my mother or grandmother did so I just never learned. As I showed Dianne all my tomato plants we started talking about how I could freeze batches of tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce and diced tomatoes instead of canning. I was thrilled to learn from her that I could make my batches of sauces and measure them into freezer ziplock bags, toss them in the deep freeze and pull them out when I need to use one. Dianne then told me about her pickle recipe that seals in the jar by pouring boiling water into the jars and turning them upside down for a week. You get to forgo the typical canning process, however you have to wait a whole week before you can eat a pickle. Needless to say, I was intrigued. While Dianne has shared her full recipe, she most often halves it and makes around 22 jars. So, here you have it, another guest recipe:
Miracle Pickles
From the kitchen of Dianne Cromwell
Be sure to prepare your quart size canning jars, lids and rings. Wash your canning jars, then turn them upside down in a pan with boiling water before using. Also, boil the lids & rings and remove from water to use on each jar. Make sure to wipe down the tops of jars before sealing.
50 lbs of pickling cucumbers
Makes approximately 48 jars
Into each quart size jar add:
Sliced or whole pickling cucumbers (depending on the size of your cucumbers, about 6-7 cucumbers per jar)
1 1/2 Tbsp pickling salt
2 heads fresh dill
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 1/2 tsp pickle spice (Dianne recommends buying in bulk and had success at Winco)
1/2 C vinegar
2 small hot chiles (optional, will make the pickles spicer the longer the jar sets)
Fill the remaining jar with boiling water to 1/4” from the top. Secure the lid and ring and turn the jar upside down. Leave the jars upside down for 7 days, then turn right side up. Anything that did not seal, needs to be thrown out. Store in your pantry, give as gifts, serve up at a cookout or potluck. Refrigerate after opening. Enjoy!
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