Spicy Pickle Recipe

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My baby girl Josie turned four yesterday. FOUR!!! It seems like she was only just a little pink lump of a thing sleeping in her bouncy chair on the kitchen counter while I cooked. All I did was blink, and now she’s shaking and baking in the kitchen with me and has turned into the best mama’s helper.

We spend her birthday in Nashville on the last stop of our road trip and she lamented all day that the boys were going to forget she wanted GIRL things. Because she’s a GIRL. And there’s only one GIRL. And if we’re being honest, she’s probably right that they would’ve picked out Skylanders and Ninja Turtles if left to their own devices. But of course I didn’t let that happened, so in the evening after checking out the Tennessee State Museum, we ate cake and they regaled her with makeup and jewelry and princess paraphernalia. Josie thanked them profusely and promised vehemently that she would make sure to choose BOY stuff for their birthdays. She’s a spitfire, that one.

Before heading out on vacation, we made a big batch of Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles and decided to spice up a few jars with the couple of jalapenos we managed to eek out of our garden. (It was a sad garden year). They turned out great and we’ll definitely be adding this to the regular pickle queue!

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Spicy Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles, Ingredients:

Cucumbers, sliced (I used a fancy little English cuke here, but you can use whatever you like) // enough to nearly fill a quart jar
Fresh garlic, minced or thinly sliced // 2-3 large cloves per quart jar
Sweet yellow onion, small chopped // 1 small onion per quart jar
Dill seed (yes, seed NOT weed) // about a tablespoon per quart jar
Salt // 1 -2 tablespoon per quart jar
White vinegar
Filtered water
Fresh jalapeno, chopped // 1 small jalapeno per quart jar
optional: sweet red pepper // just a few pieces in the jar to signal that it’s the hot pickles

Spicy Garlic Dill Refrigerator Pickles, Directions:

Add cucumber, onion, and garlic to a large bowl. Sprinkle with dill seed and salt, then mix well (alternately you could layer directly into your mason jar).
Place chopped jalapeno at the bottom of each jar, then pack cucumber mixture into mason jars. Pour vinegar into jar until it is about 1/4 – 1/3rd full. Fill remainder of the jar with water, screw on cap (tightly!) and give it a good shake. Taste your brine (no, SERIOUSLY) – this is your opportunity to make adjustments!
Refrigerate and ENJOY!

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