Cukes & Pickles

Today was one of those days that I didn't feel like I got much accomplished.  It started with a 3-hour meeting this morning, the dog's looong walk (I promised her), cutting out a cute apron pattern, pay some bills, rip some books on CD to my MP3 player, take a lady to the doctor for a couple of hours, make dinner, start sewing, blog.  Wait a minute, maybe I did do quite a bit today!

Anyway, it's that time again.  Cucumbers in the garden will soon be out numbering the grains of sand at the beach.  DH planted about 50 plants, no joke.  That's a lot of cukes.  Here is another recipe out of Grandma's recipe box. 

Dill Pickles

Pack jars with cukes into each jar (quart). Put 1/8 tsp of powdered alum, 1 clove of garlic, 2 heads of dill and 1 small red pepper.

Combine 1 qt. vinegar, 1 cup salt, 3 qts. water.
Bring to a boil and pour over cukes. Seal and process for 5 minutes.

Everybody raved about these pickles.  I know she also put a grape leaf in the bottom of the jar first.  I don't really know why. I think it is supposed to help keep the pickles crisp.  Also, 5 minutes seems like a short processing time.  But again, not my recipe, and I don't think anyone was pickle poisoned. ;)