Quick Garlic-Dill Pickles for Busy Mamas

Since January, I've been back working at my husband's business 3-4 days each week. Although my passion is writing, my education and background is in communications and public relations. And over the past 15 years, I've been in and out of the scene at the office, handling marketing & communications. Right now, I'm back in as the company is expanding. I'm also still maintaining my freelance gigs, and my eCourses/blog, and my household, and well, you know, all the things life with kids entails. So needless to say - I'm busy!



I find myself squeezing in the extras in all sorts of odd moments. Yesterday, during the span of time between after-school snack and my youngest daughter's dance class, I made pickles. I also ran a load of laundry, changed the water & filter in the aquarium, emptied all the trash cans, and cleaned out the fridge. But back to the pickles... I had to make a jar because my dill had gone to seed (a plus of a neglected garden), and I had this magnificent seed head begging to join some cukes for garlic dills. So I made 1 jar of quick refrigerator pickles. It took about 10 minutes, including time to photograph them. Here's the recipe, in case you want to squeeze in a jar too!

 

Quick, Refrigerator Garlic-Dill Pickles

 

1 tbsp. kosher salt

1 1/2 tbsp. organic cane sugar

1/4 tsp. black peppercorns

1/4 tsp. black mustard seeds (or any color, I just had black on hand)

1 tbsp. chopped garlic*

2-3 sections of dill + 1 dill head

1/2 cup white vinegar

4 pickling cucumbers, quartered

warm filtered water

 

Place the salt, pepper, mustard, garlic, dill, vinegar and cucumbers into a 1-quart mason jar, and then fill it to the top with warm water. Screw on the lid and shake the jar until the sugar and salt dissolve. Refrigerate for 24 hours for maximum flavor. Store up to 3 weeks, in the refrigerator. 

 

* TIP: I recently bought a jar of pre-peeled, whole garlic cloves. I love having these on hand in the fridge. It seems silly, but peeling fresh garlic always seems to add time in the kitchen and this has been a real help.

 

After dance class last evening, I came home to a very active sourdough starter that I'd pulled out of the fridge and fed right before I made the pickles. It had bubbled up and spilled all over the counter, which my girls found hilarious. So as I cleaned up the mess, and boiled water for a pasta dinner, and urged the girls to take their showers... I mixed up a batch of bread dough and left it to rise on the counter overnight. This morning, while packing lunches, I shaped the bread and preheated the Dutch oven while it rose. Shortly after, I did my morning workout to the smell of sourdough baking in the oven. Here's to another day of squeezing it all in!

 

xoxo - Liz