dillicious homemade pickles.

growing up, i spent a serious amount of time at my nonno & nonna's house, especially during the summer months. because they lived around the corner from us, and my nonna didn't work, my brother and i would spend all day everyday there. some of my oldest memories are of us sitting in the garage, 'doing the tomatoes' or peeling the skins from roasted red peppers (which i'm pretty sure is the reason why i don't have fingerprints on any of my right fingers) and jar everything you could think of; my favourite being the pickles --always was, always will be. if you have italian grandparents, i feel you know exactly what i'm talkin' bout.

having an endless supply of fresh, homemade pickles at my fingertips, is the number one reason i believe i am an addict to this day. so, to keep the tradition and addiction alive, i decided to make a batch of my own homemade dillicious dills.

 made with love of course.

how we do: dillicious homemade dills

using this recipe, i ended up with 8 medium sized mason jars packed to the tits with fresh baby cucumbers i purchased from the market yesterday morning. there is something so satisfying about shopping at the market -- for $5, i was able to buy 3 pounds of cucumbers from a local farmer, complete with dirt under his fingernails and weathered summer skin.

i think they taste better because he grew them.

*i couldn't think of a better pickling soundtrack than the civil wars.

ps-someone got me addicted. you know who you are.

how you choose to jar your cucumbers is entirely a preference thing. normally i prefer my pickles whole, with some girth (don't we all?), but because these babies were a bit too big for my jars whole, i sliced them quickly into quarters. i like that they are the perfect size to grab as a snack, the way they look in the jars, and how they get extra pickley because so much of the inside of the pickle is exposed to the brine. for the seasoning, i used a "pickle combo" of peppercorns, fennel, dill seed, mustard seed and fresh dill as well. for a few of the jars i added two whole cloves of nonno's garlic from the garden.

once my jars were ready to go, i got the brine mixture boiling and used a measuring cup to pour the mixture over the cucumbers, leaving about an inch of space from the top. leave the jars to cool to room temperature before putting the seal and lid on as tight as you can (tight enough that you need the boy to open them for you later on- makes him feel more like a man). because i plan on eating these quickly, i used a 'quick canning' method. the pickles need to be stored in the refrigerator, and are good for up to three months. they will be ready to eat as early as tomorrow, but the longer you leave them, the more pickley they become. eat them sooner rather than later for optimal crunch.

i love how beautiful they look, and can't wait to crack open the first jar over the next few days. i plan on having them with this recipe for the most ridiculously tasty tuna melts. and because i'm not a total gluten, i wrapped a few jars as gifts for my mom, paul's mom, and the crazy kids that made me fall for homemade pickles in the first place, my nonno and nonna.

some pretty patterned paper, twine and a tag later, they look good enough to eat.