Chris's BONUS Week Thirty-Four Recipe: Refrigerator Pickles

My mom has a good basic recipe for refrigerator pickles that I'm going to share with you. I'll also share the variation I made this week. The proportions are roughly the same, and I had the fun of making my own pickle spice mix based on the list of ingredients from Penzey's pickle spice and whatever I could find in my cupboard!

Refrigerator Pickles

Mix together:

7 c cucumber, thinly sliced

1 c green pepper, thinly sliced

1 c onion, thinly sliced

Sprinkle with:

2 T salt

1 t celery seed

Mix well. Stir together:

2 c sugar

1 c vinegar

and pour over the vegetables. Put in container & cover. Shake the container occasionally. This will keep about a month in the fridge.

Chris's Refrigerator Pickles

Mix together:

2 c cucumber, thinly sliced (2 small cucumbers)

1/3 c banana pepper, thinly sliced (1 banana pepper)

1/3 c onion, thinly sliced

Sprinkle with the following homemade pickle spice mixture:

1/2 t salt

2 slices dried ginger, cracked

1/2 cinnamon stick (smack it to pieces!)

1 bay leaf, cracked

6 peppercorns

2 cloves

2 pinches dill seed

Mix well. Stir together:

2/3 c agave nectar

1/3 c vinegar

and pour over the vegetables. Put in container & cover. Shake the container occasionally. This should keep about a month in the fridge. Note: the pickles taste better after they've had a day or so to think about themselves.

Would I make this recipe again? Yes, I would! At first I thought I'd put in too much agave nectar, but you really have to let this sit around for a day or two before you pass judgement. As it is, I'll certainly be nabbing more cucumbers for another batch.