Garlic Fridge Pickles

I’m sure I’ve mentioned that my parents’ green thumbs never passed down to me. My mom is a horticulturist, and even teaches courses at a local college. My dad is a pro veggie gardener (learned from growing vegetables for years), and can grow a mean crop of tomatoes. My parents make gardening look easy, but for me? I’m the plant killer.

My mom will bring me plants and seeds from time to time, and even the plants that are supposed to be kill-proof, die. I give ’em water and plenty of sun, but they just fizzle. I like to think of gardening like cooking. When I started cooking, I could barely scramble eggs. However, with a few years of cooking and baking under my belt, I’m proud to say that I definitely can follow recipes, and I’m starting to experiment with writing my own! I’m in my 4th year of having a veggie garden, and while the bugs took over the tomatoes (AGAIN), I was SO excited to see these monstrous cucumbers growing in my garden. MY GARDEN..growing cucumbers…crazy y’all. I’m hoping this is a sign that I’m starting to catch on to this whole gardening thing. 😛

I really wanted to make my own pickles out of these cucumbers, and since the cucumbers were just ridiculous, it only took 1 to fill up 3 pint sized mason jars. I especially love the idea of making fridge pickles, because I could leave the canning supplies in the pantry and basically throw these together very quickly.

These pickles are just so flavorful, and the wonderful thing about fridge pickles is that they are just unbelievably crisp. They lend an awesome crunchy texture to an otherwise average sandwich, and are also a pretty awesome snack on their own.

Garlic Fridge Pickles
Source: Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 2 whole cucumbers (make sure to use cucumbers with no waxy texture on the peel)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp. dried dill
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• pinch of coriander
• 6 whole peppercorns

Directions:

1. Slice the cucumbers in 1/4 in.-1/8 in. thick slices and add them to mason jars or a large bowl. Cut the garlic cloves into quarters and using a knife, gently smash them. Evenly add the garlic pieces to the jars or bowl.
2. In a small pot, heat the remaining ingredients until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
3. Pour the liquid over the cucumbers and garlic and cover the containers. Refrigerate the pickles for at least 2 hours before eating.