Grandpa’s Pickles

Whenever I would go to my grandparent’s house in Milwaukee near the airport, my grandma always had hundreds of jars of canned fruits, jams and veggies in the cellar. My grandpa worked hard on his garden and the apple and pear trees always bared quality fruits to can. My brother and I loved my grandma’s pears – they were so soft yet crisp.

Although my grandpa has passed away and my grandma no longer cans, the recipes live on in the next generation. We are on our second batch of dill pickles from 2013.

My parents and I went to the Waukesha Farmer’s Market and I instantly smelt dill. I wanted to make pickles from the second we got there. The first week, we bought a few pounds of pickles and the next week, my mom found them 5 for $1.

We have a large crock that we fill with the pickles and fresh dill and then fill it all up with brine.

My grandpa’s recipe is really simple and based on 4’s:

1/4 cup salt
1 cup vinegar
4 cups water

Combine and bring to a boil. Then it’s as simple as pouring it over the crocked pickles and…..tada done! (Unless the crock hasn’t been filled with brine – make a little more until the crock is full!

Leave the pickles out at room temperature for 3 days, cover and into the fridge they go until you want to eat them.

My mom and I experimented a little more with the recipe this year. The first batch I added a garlic powder to the brine and the second batch, my mom added one piece of fresh garlic into the crock. I haven’t tried those yet, but we thought it would add a little zip.