My husband's Aunt
Chris always made these sweet dill pickles and gave me the recipe many years
ago.
Even though I have thumbed past the recipe many times over the years,
always stopping to think about her, this summer was the first time I had time to
make them. These pickles are a process -- they take 12 days! They end up a dark,
green color -- I had always thought Aunt Chris must of used food coloring to get
that deep green. But I was wrong, they turn that color all on their own. I can't
say that mine are as good as Aunt Chris’ sweet dill pickles, but they were fun
to make and I thought about her a lot. Please read through the recipe before
starting and gather all your equipment!
Aunt Chris’ Sweet Dill Pickles
2 gallons
cumbers
2 cups salt
1 gallon
boiling water and another
1 gallon
boiling water
2 T cooking
alum
1 gallon
boiling water
2 quarts
vinegar
12 cups
sugar
3/4 tsp oil
of cloves
3/4 tsp oil
of cinnamon
2 cups sugar
First day:
Slice 2 gallons of cucumbers lengthwise and mix with 2 cups salt and 1 gallon of
boiling water and let stand for one week. Cover and weight the cover so that no
little part of the cucumber is sticking out.
Day 7: Drain
and add 1 gallon of boiling water and 2 T. of cooking alum. (I didn't add the
alum and they still were fine.) Cover and weight
Day 8: Drain
and add 1 gallon of boiling water. Cover and weight
Day 9: Drain
and add 2 quarts of vinegar, 12 cups of sugar and the oils of clove and cinnamon
which you have brought to a boil
Day 10:
Drain, reheat vinegar mixture to a boil and add 1 cup sugar
Day 11:
Drain, reheat vinegar mixture to a boil and add 1 cup sugar
Day 12:
Drain and reheat and add 1 cup sugar and bring to a boil. Pack pickles in jars
with one head dill, pour vinegar mixture into jars and seal. Process in water
bath 15 minutes for pints and 20 minutes for quarts
Even though I have thumbed past the recipe many times over the years,
always stopping to think about her, this summer was the first time I had time to
make them. These pickles are a process -- they take 12 days! They end up a dark,
green color -- I had always thought Aunt Chris must of used food coloring to get
that deep green. But I was wrong, they turn that color all on their own. I can't
say that mine are as good as Aunt Chris’ sweet dill pickles, but they were fun
to make and I thought about her a lot. Please read through the recipe before
starting and gather all your equipment!
