Summer Pickles

I will be the first to admit that I am a neglectful auntie in posting family recipes. It really is because I want to have photographs to add to the recipes and, of course, my limited time. I'll get better - eventually. Summer pickles are also called "refrigerator pickles" in our family. Mom use to make them a lot when she got extra cucumbers or when she simply wanted an easy side dish. These go over well at potlucks. I do not remember Granny or Memaw making them, but understand that Grandma Dora made them often in the summer time. I grow cucumbers in my little Victory Garden. While I love cucumbers, I also love these pickles, which will keep a week or so in the fridge!

The basics are the same: Cucumbers, Sugar, White Vinegar, and Water. Beyond that, everything is a variation. Do you like sour pickles? Use more vinegar and less sugar. Like other flavors, add them. I personally like a 1 sugar: 1 water : 1 vinegar ratio. So a cup for a cup. (To do this, I sometimes need to heat the water to dissolve the sugar. Let it cool before using.) This will make a crunchy pickle that is on the sweet side. I put them on sandwiches as well as use them as a summer side dish. Just mix it all together and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. It also seems to work find when made in the morning for dinner that evening.

In addition to the ratios and slice sizes, there are tons of variations to these pickles. I'm partial to adding dill. I like adding sweet onion as well. Red onion is tasty but will turn the water pink, which I do not particularly like. Today, I added a shallot, some sliced garlic cloves and a teaspoon of dried dill along with the sugar, water, and vinegar mix.

As a child, we only had these pickles in the summer. Regular cucumbers in the winter were simply not as good. However, they are delicious anytime of the year using the English cucumbers. One huge change between when I was growing up and now is the availability of produce through the year. Although I can select to do so, it is not the same to eat "seasonally." Getting strawberries from the green grocer or the local fruit stand was a treat as the berries were locally ripened and likely picked that morning. I'm really looking forward to my summer pickles as these were picked this morning right off their vines.