The World's Easiest Pickles

The growing season of 2013 has been a strange one around here. The rain just keeps coming (I think I'm starting to mold!) and when the sun does shine, it's hot, humid, and hard to breathe. All the rain has done a number on most of the vegetables in our garden, but the cucumbers are booming. A bountiful cucumber crop means one thing: pickles!

A good while back I wrote a post about my mother's sweet pickles. They are a lot of trouble to make, but very worth the effort. They've always been my favorite. But I have plenty of them in the cellar, so I won't be making any more this year.

My mother-in-law made good pickles, too. She made several different kinds, but my favorite recipe from her has got to be the be the world's easiest pickle to make. There are only six ingredients, and that's counting ice/water! No cooking required, not even heating the syrup. If you like to use a food processor or slicer of some sort, there's almost no labor involved either. How easy can you get?? The only drawback I can think of is that they are frozen, which means you have to remember to get them out of the freezer several hours ahead of when you want to eat them. For my 50-something brain, that in itself is the biggest challenge these pickles present!

Here's all you have to do to make a batch of the yummy pickles. First, wash eight cucumbers.

Then thinly slice them and put the slices in a big bowl.

Next, thinly slice two medium onions, separate the rings (or half-rings like mine) and add them to the bowl.

Stir with your hands to combine.

Sprinkle on two tablespoons of salt and stir with your hands. You can use coarse or table salt; doesn't matter.

Add lots of ice, stir with your hands, add some cold water, then top with more ice.

Let stand for two hours. There will probably be a lot of sweating goin' on!

Drain, but do NOT rinse. Try to fish out any remaining chunks of ice so as not to dilute the syrup.

Stir together 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar and 1 1/2 cups sugar.

Pour over slices and stir. Let stand 30 minutes, stirring once or twice.

The syrup will magically multiply during this time until there is enough pickly goodness to just about cover the slices. Yum!

Pack into containers fairly tightly so there will be enough syrup to cover. Ladle syrup into each jar. If you don't have enough syrup, let the jars stand a while. Chances are the vinegar and sugar will continue to draw water out of the slices until there is enough.

I prefer glass because the pickles will leave an odor in plastic containers, or else the pickles will have a plastic flavor, or both!

Freeze! To use, thaw (in the frig or at room temperature) and serve. Store thawed pickles in the refrigerator.

That's it! Done. So easy and so very good. If by chance, you didn't get them salty enough for your taste, you can add some salt to the jar when you get it out of the freezer. In a day or two, they'll taste great. Can you tell I learned this by experience?? I love it when it's easy to fix my cooking mistakes!

Here's the recipe, just as my mother-in-law gave it to me. I hope it sweetens your meals with crispy, pickly goodness. Enjoy!


Frozen Cucumbers

8 cucumbers, washed and thinly    sliced
2 medium onions, peeled and      thinly sliced
2 TBSP salt
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar

Mix cucumbers, onions, and salt. Cover with ice and cold water. Let stand 2 hours. Drain, but do not rinse. Mix vinegar and sugar. Do not heat! Pour over cucumbers, stir, and let stand for 30 minutes. Pack into containers and freeze. Makes about 5 pints.