SPICY PICKLES

Its spicy pickle time! I love these so much and it is hard for me to not eat them all in the first day. Use the brine for whatever veggies you want! Cucumbers, red onion, green beans, and red cabbage are all delicious. Once the pickles are gone, use the brine in salad dressing or other sauces for a tangy kick. Adapted from https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/75145/spicy-refrigerator-dill-pickles/

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Ingredients

• 2 cups apple cider vinegar

• 2 cups water

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 tablespoon salt

• 8 large cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

• 1/2 tablespoon peppercorns

• 2 bay leaves

• 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (chucking in a cinnamon would probably be better but I would just use whichever you already have)

• Red pepper flakes, depending on how spicy you like it (I like mine spicy so I go heavy, around 1 tablespoon. The recipe I adapted this from uses 1/2 teaspoon, so judge for yourself.)

• 2-3 english cucumbers (or whatever vegetable you are pickling)

• 2 large glass jars

Instructions

1. In a pot, add the water, vinegar, sugar, salt, whole crushed garlic cloves, chopped dill, red pepper flakes and pickling spices. Put on very low heat, stirring occasionally until sugar and salt are dissolved. This should never simmer, just make it warm enough to to blend everything together.

2. While the brine melds, chop up your cucumbers (or whatever other veggies you have) and stick them into jars. I like to cut the cucumbers into disks for easy use in wraps and sandwiches, with the added bonus of them being ready faster because they are smaller. Make sure the jars are full, but not overly packed so there is room for your brine.

3. Once the brine is ready, throw out the bay leaves (and cinnamon sticks if you are using them) and separate the garlic cloves into the jars. Then pour the brine into the jars, including the bits of dill, peppercorns, and red pepper flakes that sink to the bottom. Make sure the cucumbers are fully covered, and if they aren't top off the jars with a little bit of water.

4. Give the jars a good shake and chuck those bad boys in the fridge and in about an hour they will be good to eat. The flavor will get more intense the longer they are in there, but they are solidly pickles after about an hour. I would tell you how long they last in the fridge but they never make it more than a couple days in my house so I will just use the original recipes suggestion of eating them within the month.