Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Dill pickles ready to cure in the refrigerator.

Remember all of the cukes I bought up north the other day?

 And the dill tree I picked up to?

 What better to make them into than refrigerator dills.  I don't bother to can them because I give most of them away and we eat the others quickly.

Dill Pickles

4 cups       water
1 cup         distilled white vinegar
2 tbsp       kosher salt
1 tsp      white sugar
6 pickling cucumbers cut into quarters (or however you like)
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp  coriander seeds
1/2 tsp  mustard seeds
1 dried bay leaf (broken up)
1/4 tsp celery seeds (optional)
1/4 tsp  red chili pepper flakes
8 medium cloves garlic, cut into long thin pieces
6 large sprigs of fresh dill

Equipment: 2 quart sized ball jars, or 1 large half liter jar (cleaned and dried)

1. In a non-reactive pot, bring water, vinegar, salt, and sugar to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
2. Place peppercorns, coriander seeds, mustard seeds, dried bay leaf, celery seeds, and red chili pepper flakes in the bottom of the jars.
3. Tightly pack in the cucumbers, squeeze garlic slices in between the cucumbers.
4. Carefully pour the cooled brine over your cucumbers, make sure they are covered completely (you should have a little over 4.5 cups of brine after boiling and cooling with a bit left over), place dill sprigs on the top of the jar before sealing very well.
5. Turn and shake jar until the pickling seasoning has evenly distributed throughout the brine. Place in refrigerator for at least 48 hours.

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.
–Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94)