Mom's Refrigerator Pickles and Feedburner Email Subscriptions

Dear Readers, 

As you may have heard, Google has decided to end it's Feedburner email subscriptions which is how you had been getting my posts by email.  In order to keep you posted (pun intended), I have now changed my email delivery of new posts to Mail Chimp (originally it was follow.it, but I wasn't happy with the email platform).  Please follow with Feedly or the new email subscription form, which is via Mail Chimp. I apologize for any inconvenience. You may always unsubscribe at any time.  

I have transferred all the email addresses of those of you who are Active followers from the Feedburner data base to Mail Chimp so you shouldn't miss a thing. Thank you to almost 1,500 of you for following my humble blog! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions.

It's been a long year for many of us! You may have noticed I haven't been blogging as often as I used to.  Late last year, we bought a 1901 vintage home as a rental investment which was in need of lots of TLC! I'm in charge of researching and ordering everything necessary to complete the renovation...paint, flooring, door, windows, blinds, fixtures, vanities, etc., etc.  It has kept much of my attention away from the kitchen these past few months.  

I have recently sowed one of my favorite crops, cucumbers, I'd like to reshare my 'most viewed' recipe of all time with an updated photo.  Since it was first published, it has been viewed over 750,000 times!  It's my mother's recipe for refrigerator pickles. You can use any cucumber you like, but homegrown or the baby cucumbers you can find at the store now are the best and taste as close to homegrown as you can get.  

It's a simple and easy sweet and sour pickle made without cooking that will last 2-3 months in the refrigerator. I keep adding freshly cut cucumbers to the jar as they ripen on the vine. They are great as an accompaniment to lunch or dinner or to add extra crunch to a salad or sandwich.  I often eat them as a snack too.  

My Mom's Refrigerator Pickle Recipe

Printable Recipe

1 cup white vinegar 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup water 1-2 teaspoons celery seed (I like 2) 1 teaspoon salt 3 cups sliced cucumber 3 small onions, thinly sliced Place sliced cucumber and onions in a large container or bowl. In a separate bowl, stir vinegar, sugar, water and salt together until dissolved. Add celery seed. Pour mixture over cucumber and onions and refrigerate. Best flavor 1-2 days after making. Keeps for 2-3 months.

Once again, thank you to all of my followers! 

Simple Pickled Beets

It's that time of year again. When a trip to the garden or farmer's market yields such beautiful produce that it makes you wish it could last and last. Here is one way to prolong some of that harvest by a couple of months, at least.  If they last that long :)

Do you love beet root? I love beets just about any way...boiled, oven-roasted, hot, cold, and of course, pickled. 

 

My all-time most popular post is one I did on refrigerator pickles, a recipe that I got from my mother years ago. It's so simple and so delicious. One of my readers asked if beets could be used instead of cucumbers and I thought, sure, why not?  Using my mother's simple refrigerator pickle brine of sugar, vinegar, water and salt, I replaced the celery seed with a pinch of red pepper flakes for the beets.  Optionally, you could add bay leaf, cinnamon sticks, cloves or switch up the vinegar used, but frankly, I love them prepared very simply, just like this.

I used golden beets just because they're my favorite and because they look so pretty :)  I think they have a slightly more mellow flavor too. They turned out so tasty and delicious pickled this way that I'm sure I will have a jar of these in the refrigerator as long as I can find beautiful, fresh beets.

Of course, use whatever beets you prefer.  Quick, easy and delicious if you're a beet lover like me.  They make a delicious snack or side to any summer meal. Beets are an excellent source of fiber, potassium, calcium and antioxidants so if you don't like red beets, try the more mellow yellow.

Simple Pickled Beets

Printable Recipe

1 cup white vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 cups sliced, cooked beets (I like to use golden beets)

Optional additions to the brine could be cinnamon sticks, cloves, bay leaves and peppercorns but I prefer them with the simple brine.

Slice leaves and most of stems from the beets, leaving about 1 inch of stem. Place beets in a large saucepan and cover with water. Cook over medium heat, covered, over medium heat until just barely tender, about 30-40 minutes. A good test, is to stick a sharp knife into the beet and if it goes partially through but hits some resistance in the center, then it's done enough. Remove from the pan and place on a plate to cool. When cool enough to handle, the skin will easily slide off. Remove all skin and slice off the remainder of the stem. Slice beets into quarters, lengthwise, and then into 1/4 inch slices.

Place sliced beets into a large container or jar with lid. In a separate bowl, stir vinegar, sugar, water and salt together until dissolved. Add red pepper flakes. Pour mixture over beets and refrigerate.

These can be eaten after several hours in the refrigerator but taste best in 1-2 days.

Keeps for at least 2 months, refrigerated.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

It's cucumber time in my little Wisconsin Garden. I love them in freshly sliced in simple salads with my own garden tomatoes but when you have far too many to eat fresh, you need to make pickles! This year, I decided to branch out from my usual Refrigerator Pickle recipe which is sweet and similar to a Bread and Butter pickle.  I love them but my husband prefers dill pickles so here you are, Honey :)  When I first offered him a taste he said "These are really good!". 

I mixed my own herbs and spices, added some fresh dill flower heads and lots of garlic.

Since I had so many dill sprigs left after making the dill pickles, I also made some dilly beans and zucchini spears using the same recipe! I added a few thinly sliced onions to dilly beans (see note below)*.  I am still looking at quite a few dill flower heads so looking for more veggies to pickle now :) 

I love my Fido Clamp Jars that you see in the very first photo, the Golden Harvest jars that the beans are in and the Weck jar above but for refrigerator pickles, beans and zucchini you can use any glass jar with a lid that you have as they are not 'canned' in the traditional way. You will need to keep these stored in the refrigerator to keep them fresh.  

My favorites jars I only use for decoration...

These are jars are from my mother's antique bottle and jar collection that she shared with me and my sister before she passed away.  I use them as vases and also display them with other memorabilia from my late mother on a shelf my little home office.  

Wouldn't you love to know who originally owned them, how many recipes were made and stored in them? I believe the 1/2 gallon Ball Mason jar on the right is probably the oldest dating to around 1900. Considering the fact that few people even owned a refrigerator until much later, canning jars were a very important part of life then.  Can you even imagine? 

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

Inspired By This Recipe
Printable Recipe

Makes about three 1 1/2-pint jars (my jars were varied sizes)

12-15 small pickling cucumbers (the bumpy ones)

2 cups water
2 cups distilled white vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons Kosher salt
Fresh dill flower heads - about 1 large to 2 small heads for each jar

9 garlic cloves, peeled and cut into 2-3 slivers

Seasonings:

1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons dill seeds

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1/2 teaspoon whole allspice

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon whole juniper berries (optional)

1 bay leaf, crumbled

Combine water, vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan.  Heat just until warm and the sugar and salt have dissolved.  Set aside to cool. 

Combined seasonings in a small bowl.  Divide the seasoning mixture equally among the jars you are using. 

Trim ends from cucumbers and slice.  I like the slices fairly thick - about 1/4-1/2 inch but you can also cut them into spears if you like. Fill each jar with sliced cucumbers but leave about 1" from top empty. 

Tuck in 1-2 dill heads into each jar and about 3 slivered garlic cloves.

Pour the cooled vinegar mixture over the cucumbers to cover. Cover jars with lids and close tightly.

Refrigerate at least 7-10 days for best flavor.

Pickles will last refrigerated about 2 months - if you don't eat them all before then :-)

*My Note on Dilled Beans:  I parboiled fresh beans for 3-1/2 minutes and then plunged them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process before putting them in jars with pickling solution. 

Refrigerator Pickles

I have eaten these pickles for more years than I can remember! Refrigerator pickles bring back memories of my mother and my parent's garden where they grew cucumbers, beets, peas, beans, tomatoes, potatoes and squash in their enormous back yard garden. It was my own personal farmer's market.

My mother used to love to make these pickles and I loved to eat them. Perhaps your mother made them too as I'm sure this recipe is ages old.

It's a simple sweet and sour pickle made without cooking that will last 2-3 months in the refrigerator. I keep adding freshly cut cucumbers to the jar as they ripen on the vine. I've already had to go to a larger jar now that the cucumbers are becoming more plentiful but these were my first pride and joys.

I love watching the blossoms turn into teeny-tiny cucumbers and watching them grow every day, sometimes seemingly overnight. I grew these space-saving cucumbers from seed and I'm training them to grow up our fence. The farmers' markets are full of cucumbers right now for you to try this simple recipe - no canning equipment required!

Shop my favorite refrigerator pickle jars HERE. (Affiliate Link) 

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Refrigerator Pickles

~from Savoring Time in the Kitchen's Mom
Printable Recipe

Makes about 6 Cups

1 cup white vinegar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
1-2 teaspoons celery seed (I use 2)
1 teaspoon salt

3 cups sliced cucumber
3 small onions, thinly sliced

Place sliced cucumber and onions in a large container or bowl. In a separate bowl, stir vinegar, sugar, water and salt together until dissolved. Add celery seed. Pour mixture over cucumber and onions and refrigerate.

**Many have asked when these can be eaten.  I sometimes nibble on them the same day but they taste best in 1-2 days in my opinion.  

Keeps for 2-3 months.