Instant Pickles

[Edit:  I later made this recipe again when dill was in season and put new photos in.]

This is my mom's tried and true recipe.  It tastes like the best parts of summer with the cool crunch of cucumber.  Kyle calls them Quickles.  I think that sounds like a bad clown's name.

That being said, they are pretty quick and easy.  Start with 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of sugar (you can easily go with a little less sugar) and 1 cup of water.  Put those on the stove to simmer.  Add 1 tsp of sea salt.

And 1 tsp of ground mustard.

While waiting for that to come to a boil, slice up the cucumbers.  To make dill pickles, add a couple dill heads to the bottom of the jar.  Also optional is adding a couple cloves of garlic. 

Alternately pack dill and sliced cucumber, packing tightly until the jar is full.

Boil the liquids until the sugar is dissolved.

When dissolved, pour the hot liquid over the cucumber slices until the jars are full.

Refrigerate until cool.  Voila!  Pickles.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• [optional] fresh dill
• [optional] garlic cloves

Instructions
1.  Add the vinegar, sugar, water, sea salt and mustard to a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil.
2.  While waiting for the pot to boil, slice the cucumbers and pack tightly into two quart jars (if using dill or garlic, put in jar prior to packing in the cucumbers).
3.  When the sugar has dissolved in the boiling mixture, pour over the cucumbers until the jars are full.
4.  Refrigerate until cool.