Made in NOLA

Two weekends ago I stayed in on a Friday night (really hard to do in NOLA) so I could hit the farmer's market on Saturday morning, you know, EARLY before it got too hot... but I slept til' 10 anyway and I just resigned myself to the fact that it's summer in New Orleans. It's HOT no matter what you do or try to do.

I scooted down on my Vespa with the intention to just buy enough cukes to make 2-3 quarts, but I ended up getting a whole basket full for $3-they were all short and chubby, hence their bargain price, but I was going to slice them into rings anyway, so I crammed my full market bag in to the seat of my scooter and got home to get down to business!

I made 8 quarts and after all the jars were cooled down, I had to hide them under my counter so I wouldn't be tempted to open them early. It took every bit of my will power. In order to let them "sit" for 2 weeks it would be July 1 before I could open a jar. On that day, I put one jar in the fridge before leaving for work and when I got home that night I cracked open the first jar with MUCH anticipation!

The first jar was empty before the weekend was over. Yes, my day's labor 2 weeks prior was a huge success and now I'm thinking, I only made EIGHT QUARTS....sh*t!!

Here's what I used for the brine ( I ended up making 2 batches of brine-you can just double the amounts):
4 cups water (I used "spring" water, not tap)
4 cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
1/4 cup of fine sea salt (actually a little less)

Pack each jar with a teaspoon of mustard seeds, a few hot peppers, a few cloves of garlic, and a sprigs of fresh dill
Pack in your cukes
Bring your brine to a boil and then carefully pour over your cukes and fill your jars
Seal your jars with your lids, that you boiled separately and let cool a bit

Do everything in your power to forget you made these for 2 weeks and then enjoy!