Dill Pickles

Total Time: 55 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 lbs pickling cucumbers
• 1 pint vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 -6 whole cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon peppercorn
• 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon dill seed (or 2 heads fresh dill weed)

Recipe

• 1 wash the cucumbers and quarter them length wise.
• 2 combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and bay leaf in a enameled pot.
• 3 put the cloves ,celery seeds, peppercorns, mustard seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon of the dill seeds in a muslin bag and add it to the vinegar (if using fresh dill, omit the dill seeds here.)
• 4 bring this liquid to a boil, lower the heat, and let it simmer for 15 minutes.
• 5 remove the bay leaf and spice bag from the vinegar.
• 6 put 1/4 tsp dill seeds, or 1 head fresh dill weed, into each of the 2 clean quart jars.
• 7 fit the cucumber spears an compactly as possible into the jars and pour the hot vinegar mixture over them.
• 8 the cucumbers should be completely covered with the liquid, and there should be at least 1/2 inch of headroom at the top.
• 9 screw down the lids and process the jars in a boiling-water bath for 20 minutes.
• 10 allow the pickles to cool, check the seals, and label the jars.
• 11 the pickles will improve in flavor if left to ripen for a few months.
• 12 yields approximately 2 quarts.