Canning without a Canner

When I first started canning, nothing scared me more than the idea of a jar not properly sealing and an innocent family member doubled over in the bathroom due to my failure. So I started with recipes that required no huge pot, high heat, and which left plenty of room for human error. I started with refrigerator pickles.

These are so great because when you pass them out to all of your neighbors and friends, they will "oohh and ahhh" over how homemade and time consuming they look. You can even dress up the jars with ribbons, labels and fabric if you're feeling crafty.

This year I made two batches, one is sweet and the other is dill. The sweet recipe I made last year and it was a huge hit with everyone but my daughter, who insists that pickles should always be sour. This year I tried the dill version, which we all loved. I'm not a pickle fan, mostly due to the texture of the kind you find in the grocery store, but homemade pickles are more like cucumbers with flavor. Crisp and refreshing (and oh so low in calories!).

Sweet Pickles
Makes 2, 1-quart jars

1-1 1/2 pints pickling cucumbers, sliced very thin (I use the slicing blade on my food processor)
1 cup onions, sliced very thin
2 cups apple cider vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp sea salt

Cram the cucumbers and onions into 2, 1-quart jars. Fit as much in as you can.
Put 1/2 tsp of the celery seed, mustard seed and sea salt in each jar.
In a separate container with a lid, combine the apple cider vinegar and sugar and shake well.
Pour liquid mix into each jar. If there is not enough made, make enough so that each jar is filled.
Put on a lid, refrigerate and shake daily for 6 days.
In the early days the sugar will sit on the bottom, but by day 6 it will dissolve into the vinegar.

Dill Pickles
Makes 2, 1-quart jars

1-1 1/2 pints pickling cucumbers, cut into spears (cut twice lengthwise, 4 spears to each cucumber)

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 cup fresh dill

1 tsp mustard seed

1 tsp black peppercorn

2 cups white distilled vinegar

2 cups cold water
3 Tbsp kosher salt

Put 2 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup dill, 1/2 tsp mustard seed and 1/2 tsp black peppercorn in the bottom of each 1-quart jar (you will need 2, 1-quart jars).
Add the cucumber spears to the jars and stack them so you fit in as many as you can.
In a separate container with a lid, combine the vinegar, water and salt and shake well.
Pour the liquid mix into each jar. If there is not enough made, make some more and fill the jars.
Put on a lid, refrigerate, and shake daily for 6 days.

Honestly, it took me about 15 minutes to make 2 quarts of each. And that was with both kids helping!