I was first introduced to refrigerator pickles during the summer that I was pregnant with Little B. That summer was one of the hottest summers I have ever experienced... And I am native Texan.
It was brutal. We were (and still are) in a severe drought and everyone was begging for rain. Nobody went out and did anything because by the time you made it to your car and got the AC running, you were dripping in sweat and needed to change your clothes.
So imagine that kind of summer... and then imagine being pregnant on top of that. It makes the back of my knees sweat just thinking about it.
I spent that whole summer floating in one of Austin's public pools... Just a big pregnant lady floating on her noodle while wearing ridiculously unattractive flower print pregnancy bathing suit. Those poor teenage lifeguards... I am sure they were drawing straws to determine which unlucky soul would have to pull my butt out of there if I needed help. God forbid I have that baby in the pool.
Now, you may be asking, "what the hell does this have to do with refrigerator pickles?" Well, I am getting to that.
Now that you have a good picture of how brutal that summer was, you know that no one in their right mind wanted to turn on an oven to cook. It was just too damn hot. Food needed to be simple. And if you could not grill it or eat it raw, it just wasn't going to happen.
So when I was introduced to refrigerator pickles, I thought I died and went to heaven. My thoughts were...
Mix sugar and vinegar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Put all other ingredients into a separate bowl. Pour the vinegar and sugar mixture over the cucumbers. Let stand in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but ideally for a day or two. The pickles get better with time.
Note: In order to speed up the dissolving of sugar, I will often heat the vinegar and sugar on the stove top.
It was brutal. We were (and still are) in a severe drought and everyone was begging for rain. Nobody went out and did anything because by the time you made it to your car and got the AC running, you were dripping in sweat and needed to change your clothes.
So imagine that kind of summer... and then imagine being pregnant on top of that. It makes the back of my knees sweat just thinking about it.
I spent that whole summer floating in one of Austin's public pools... Just a big pregnant lady floating on her noodle while wearing ridiculously unattractive flower print pregnancy bathing suit. Those poor teenage lifeguards... I am sure they were drawing straws to determine which unlucky soul would have to pull my butt out of there if I needed help. God forbid I have that baby in the pool.
Now, you may be asking, "what the hell does this have to do with refrigerator pickles?" Well, I am getting to that.
Now that you have a good picture of how brutal that summer was, you know that no one in their right mind wanted to turn on an oven to cook. It was just too damn hot. Food needed to be simple. And if you could not grill it or eat it raw, it just wasn't going to happen.
So when I was introduced to refrigerator pickles, I thought I died and went to heaven. My thoughts were...
- It is so refreshing and makes me feeler cooler just by eating it!
- This is delicious!
- Now I know what to do with all these dang cucumbers!
- I don't have to turn on the oven!
- It keeps in the fridge for 3 weeks!
- It doesn't give me heartburn! (in my defense, I was pregnant)
Refrigerator Pickles
7 sliced cucumbers (I do not peel mine)
1 cup onion, sliced
1 tbsp mustard seed
1 tbsp celery seed
1 tbsp salt
1-2 cups sugar (to taste - I like mine less sweet)
1 cup vinegar (I like rice vinegar)
Mix sugar and vinegar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Put all other ingredients into a separate bowl. Pour the vinegar and sugar mixture over the cucumbers. Let stand in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but ideally for a day or two. The pickles get better with time.
Note: In order to speed up the dissolving of sugar, I will often heat the vinegar and sugar on the stove top.
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