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Usually, my family got along well. But then there’d come the day when the lines were drawn: the day Mom started to make the pickles. I was solidly dill, Dad loved bread and butter pickles, Mom was a fan of both, and I think my brother thought we were all crazy.
As the cucumbers started overwhelming us in the late summers, Mom started with the dills, because they went faster. We grew the dill for them in our garden too.
I’m not sure where Mom’s dill pickle recipe came from. They’re on index cards in Mom’s writing, and have been there since I can remember–so nearly 50 years now. She always called them ‘floppy dills’, to differentiate them from the crispier, fermented dill pickles.
SIMPLE “FLOPPY DILL” PICKLES
30 to 40 medium cucumbers, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds (or enough mini cukes to fill 4 quart jars)
1 gallon water
1 quart vinegar
1 cup salt
garlic cloves
8-10 fresh-picked heads of dill
8-10 fresh-picked heads of dill
Drop one dill head into the bottom of the clean, sterlized jar. Pack cucumber slices tightly into jar, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add 1 clove garlic and dill head on top of the cucumbers. Using a soup ladle, ladle boiling brine over the cucumbers to fill jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add hot lids and bands to jars, tighten bands. Jar lids will ‘pop’ when sealed. Hold pickles three months before opening.
Mom had two notes on the recipe: More garlic can be added to jar if desired, and Make by September 15 to be ready for Christmas. From what I remember, this recipe would make between 4 and 6 quarts, depending on how thickly the cukes are sliced, and how many garlic cloves we added.
Editor’s Note: It’s been great fun sharing so many pickling recipes with you! Stay tuned–there are more next week!
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