Dill Pickles

I am a dill pickle lover, but have never conquered the process. My oldest daughter, however, has experimented for a couple of years and come up with a pretty good procedure! From the garden to the jar, it's been fun to watch her develop her own special recipe.

About 8-10 Kirby cucumbers, washed

Soak your cucumbers for two hours in a mixture of:

2 gallons of cold water to 1 cup of pickling lime (in a non-reactive container)

Remove cucumbers and rinse multiple times to remove all lime.

Soak cucumbers again, for 3 hours, in a clean bucket of ice water.

Next, boil together 4 pints of vinegar, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of pickling salt.

In clean quart jars drop 1/2 head of fresh dill and one peeled garlic bulb in the bottom. Fill the jar with cucumbers cut in either coins or spears. Pour boiling vinegar mixture over cucumbers to fill to the neck of the jar. Drop 1/2 head of dill in the top of the jar.

Put boiled jar lids on and screw down rings. Cool at room temperature. Can be opened in 48 hours.

Yield: 4 quarts of dill pickles