dill pickles

This summer has been super busy, but somehow I did find a few minutes to enter some items in our local Platte County Fair (the longest continuously running county fair west of the Mississippi River, mind you) and this year I came home with two blue ribbons. I was so excited!

I entered a jar of dill pickle spears, yup that’s them with their blue ribbon right there, but I was hoping to enter a jar of our yummy hamburger dills also. Unfortunately, when I went to grab a jar I discovered my husband had eaten every last one. Yes, my husband ate my fair entry, but he did apologize and added, “If it’s any consolation, you should have won a blue ribbon. They were delicious.” Okay, so I don’t have a shiny new ribbon to show for it, but I’ll take that vote of approval.

If you want to give your own husband-pleasing pickles a go, you should try the hamburger dill canning recipe here at Small Talk Mama.

I also entered three photos in the fair, one of which brought home a blue. This photo of a female cardinal braving a winter storm is one of my favorites from our back porch. I’m so glad the judges liked it too.

There are so many reasons I love to participate in the county fair, but one of my fondest is that I think my Nannie would be so proud. My grandmother, we called her Nannie, entered her own county fair each year and earned oodles of ribbons throughout her life. Before she passed I consistently ogled her latest blue ribbon projects each fall; so when my husband and I moved to a county that hosted its own fair, I decided to carry on the tradition. My first thought in the exhibit hall this year was that I hoped I made my Nannie proud.

This one is for all you Wednesday night Bible study ladies, because my homemade hamburger dills actually taste like pickles and I promised to post the recipe here at Small Talk Mama. Yes, my husband and I actually got the first taste of our maiden pickling project and we both gave it a thumbs up. I don’t know why we’re always so surprised, when we try a new recipe or grow a new vegetable, to find that it tastes exactly as it should. I remember our first harvest of broccoli years ago — it actually tasted exactly like broccoli. Imagine that! That being said, we haven’t yet opened the dill spears, but I’ll keep you posted — the suspense is just killing you, I know.

So here’s the recipe we used for hamburger dills, which were a great addition to our grilled burgers. Unlike most recipes of its kind, this one does not require a several-day soaking before the canning process. So if you’re “in a pickle” and can’t wait days to can, you might want to try this quick and easy recipe.

Recipe adapted from Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving

Hamburger Dill Pickles

2016-08-03 17:03:19

Yields 7

Canning recipe for hamburger dill pickles that doesn't require a lengthy ice water bath.

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Ingredients

4 lbs cucumbers
6 tbsp canning salt
4 1/2 c water
4 c vinegar
14 heads fresh dill
3 1/2 tsp mustard seed
14 peppercorns

Instructions

Wash cucumbers and drain. Cut cucumbers into 1/4-inch crosswise slices, discarding blossom ends.
Pack cucumbers into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.
Add 2 heads of dill, 1/2 tsp mustard seed and 2 peppercorns to each jar.
Combine salt, water and vinegar in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil.
Ladle hot liquid over cucumbers, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.
Lightly tap jars to remove air bubbles, and screw on two-piece caps.
Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

Notes

This recipe makes delicious husband-pleasing hamburger dill pickles!

By Small Talk Mama

Adapted from Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving

https://www.smalltalkmama.com/

Tag: dill pickles

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