How Not to Make Pickles
Turns out Lulu doesn’t like cucumbers.
I mean, really, really doesn’t like cucumbers. This, the very same girl that writes love songs about pickles.
We were at a friend’s for dinner last week and I put a few sliced cucumbers on her plate. She put one in her mouth and yet it quickly reappeared with the loud announcement, “I hate cucumbers!”
After a quick hushed talk about being gracious guests, I gladly ate the remaining cucumbers on her plate, save for the one that she’d made into mouth gazpacho. Instantly, I was taken back to my childhood.
My grandpa’s cucumber patch produced all summer long and never seemed to let up. My grandma’s solution for the never ending supply was to keep a large bowl on her sink filled with a tangy vinegar marinade and freshly sliced cucumbers.
We’d all grab a few slices out of the marinade every time we’d walk through the kitchen and she’d simply grab her paring knife and start slicing more to drop into the waiting bowl. She didn’t get to sit down much.
I have a lot of cucumbers this summer.
And I’ve started my own bowl by the sink.
Marinated Cucumbers
- 1/2 c. vinegar (any vinegar will work, though I prefer apple cider or red wine vinegar)
- 1/4-1/2 c. cold water
- 2 T. sucanat or stevia
- 1/2 t. salt
- 2 t. dried dill or 2 T. fresh dill, chopped
- 2 very large or 4 medium cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 T. thinly sliced red onion (optional)
Combine vinegar, water, sweetener, salt and dill in a large bowl. Mix until sweetener has fully dissolved.
Add sliced cucumbers and onion. (Note: I like to peel the cucumbers using a vegetable peeler and leaving thin strips of green skin in tact. It’s pretty.)
The longer you allow the cucumbers to marinate, the more flavor they will take on. You can refrigerate until serving (but my grandma never did).
You’d think these “pickled” cucumbers would have won Lulu over.
Nope.
She walked through the kitchen, grabbed a marinated cucumber slice and headed for the flowerbed.
She scooped up her father’s carefully laid and spread mulch…
and dumped it into the yard.
She heard the click of the camera and quickly turned to warn me, “Don’t show Dad these pictures.”
“But what are you doing, Lu?” I asked.
She dropped her cucumber in the dirt and stated matter-of-factly, “Growing pickles.”
And with that, she scooped the mulch back out of the yard and carefully laid and spread it back in the flowerbed.
Humming a pickle love song all the while.
This works really great on bitter cucumbers. I had one so bitter it was disgusting. Put it in this marinade (minus the stevia or other sweetener) let it sit a day and it was delicious! A bonus is adding garden fresh tomatoes. YUM! Love fresh cukes!
“I can´t make this stuff up”- true, you possibly couldn´t. No. 1 million why to love children!
So Lulu loves pickles but detests a cucumber in any other form… can’t blame kids for being picky
Lord knows I only ate 10 things up until middle school.
My Grandma had the same bowl of cucumbers on her counter! Forgot how much I liked them that way, will make my own bowl!
How sweet that you have the same memory. We are so lucky.
haha she is such a clever and witty little one
!! My daughter is the same way, loves pickles but hates cucumbers!! And I can’t wait to try this recipe! I inherited lots of my grandmas old cookbooks and there were tons of pickled recipes in there! I’ve never made anything like that though! 
You should try these and see if little G likes them!
How cute is she? I love that she “planted” the cucumber, I love that! My mom always marinated cucmbers like this, and added garden tomatoes too. I love that…and I just made gazpacho today and it reminded me of that salad that she used to make. ‘Tis the season, without a doubt!
I bet the tomatoes are great in it…though confession: I don’t like uncooked tomatoes!
This looks so good! Would the same amount of sugar work for the sweetener? Thinking of making these later today- thank you!
Yup, just use sugar! Enjoy!
How cute! Those cucumbers look amazing and what a clever idea with the marinated cucumbers. Sounds very tasty!
They are really good…if you haven’t tried them before, you must!
Hahahhaa oh Lulu. I love pickles too, but I agree that homemade don’t taste like grocery jarred! I like them both, but maybe we should all try growing pickles
She is super picky (I just typed “pickly”) in the type of pickles she likes too. Steinfelds all the way.
hahaha YESSSS! Love 4 year olds!
So sweet!! I love marinated cucumbers. Can’t wait to make these
My mom used to make these for us! (She even tried throwing zucchini in there to get us to eat it but you can’t fool kids who hate zucchini as much as we did! lol)
Now that is tricky!
Growing pickles…I love that girl.
Me too.
Looks like a salad that is very popular here in Pennsylvania Dutch country (where we like sweet and sour). Actually, based on other comments, seems like something that is just universally appealing!
And here I thought it was just something my grandma did…
LuLu + GiGi are such sweet, beautiful children! Congratulating to you and your Tommy
Bahamma-loving husband for raising such amazing, God-fearing daughters. I’m only 28, but I pray that someday I will have children like yours
Thank you! They have their moments, but we wouldn’t trade those girls for anything.
oooh, my dad would make these and I would eat them until I was sick, but he never could give me any proportions, I’ll give yours a try. Hoping to make it to Wednesday market for some local cukes, we’ll see if my brood will let me
I know that could be a feat in and of itself! This week is crazy, but next week maybe I can bring you some?
I would never turn them down
let me know!
Cute!
My cucumbers aren’t quite ready yet. Good thing they are all over the produce department at Thriftway.
Stop in and say hi to my mom!
I love cucumbers + vinegar + dill. Add a little mayo (or vegenaise) and that’s what my mom used to do with all the cukes from my dad’s garden. I’ve never met a pickled anything that I didn’t love; vinegar is where it’s at
My mom told me tonight that she always added sour cream! Our mom’s must think alike.
This is SOOOO cute! Seriously, kids have the best ideas! I’m thrilled to have found my way to your lovely blog. I can’t WAIT to make that chocolate zucchini cake since we have a ton of zucchini lying around from our community supported agriculture box. I’ve been using zucchini in everything!
Laura, so nice to meet you! I’m excited to check out your blog now too. Thank you for saying hello!
Hahaha! I’m the exact opposite of Lulu – I LOVE pickled cucumbers, they’re one of my favorite growing-up summer memories, but I DO NOT like regular pickles! You’d think if you liked one you’d like the other, but apparently not!
well there ARE seeds in those slices… you never know
That’s funny. I was the same way as a kid, hated cucumbers but loved pickles. As soon I realized pickles were made from cucumbers I tried them again and I don’t hate them!
if only pickles could be grown…i’d totally go in on a pickle patch with Lulu!
hahaha lulu. that is too funny.
we have some cucumbers sitting in the fridge so i may try this recipe pretty soon.
That is so cute! When our cuke plants start having some ready to pick cukes, I think I will be trying this.
Thanks for the recipe and the adorable kid story.
My dad did cucumbers the same way…actually he still does. When we go over to visit my son can’t stop eating those cukes out of the bowl. My daughter on the other hand loves pickles too, but not cucumbers raw or even in the vinegar mixture. Our cucumbers are doing very well this year so we are trying to eat them as often as possible.
And you know what, that’s totally fine. Everyone has an accidental success in the kitchen sometimes (read: all the time).
Clever girl! What a gorgeous post.
Cute–she’s going to grow pickles. I love it.
How long do you suggest marinating before eating? I know the longer the better, but what would you say is the minimum for it tasting right? Overnight? A couple of days? Thanks!
I’d say at least an hour, Michelle. Good luck!
That is just absolutely hysterical. I’m with Lulu, I wish they could simply be grown in the backyard too. My mom used to make cucumber salads that exact same way. Still my favorite way to eat them.
Oh my gosh that is the cutest thing in the world.
My Grandpop had an amazing farm – the kind that included a farmstand at the side of the road. He would pick veggies on demand so it was super fresh. He ALWAYS had an abundance of cucumbers and my mother made this same salad constantly. There was (and still is) a perpetual supply in the fridge. Now my brothers and I all make it as well. I usually snack on them after work while I’m prepping dinner. SO yummy.
Chris, that is awesome! What a fun experience growing up. Fresh veggies always taste so much better.
This is perfect! I’m including cukes and fresh red onions in our CSA shares this week. Thank you!
My dad makes a similar summer salad but adds tomatoes as well. It’s a staple in his fridge.
Hope this holds a candle to your dad’s!
Don’t get me wrong… I don’t really care for HIS. LOL
The man does shots of pickle juice. No accounting for taste, and thankfully it’s not hereditary
Thanks to you & Lulu for brightening my day once again!
My pleasure.
Oh my word… I am dying here! between ‘mouth gazpacho’ and growing pickles, this post is giving me a good dose of the giggles… I needed that!
Those cucumbers look yummy!
Yeah, I don’t really like gazpacho after that experience. Have a good Monday!
that is the cutest!! kids always have such perfect logic
Lulu is hilarious, but I have to say cucumbers are much yummier than pickles.
Just made these. So delicious! <3
Oh good, glad you enjoyed, Sarah!
Ooooooh, this made me laugh!!
I am not a pickle person (shhhh, don’t tell Lu) or a cucumber person for that matter, but my husband is. I was recently lamenting that we got more cucumbers in our CSA box and that we should just pickle them to preserve them. My husband was so confused– at the age of 36, he thought pickles were just “naturally that way.” I couldn’t stop laughing and asking him if he’d ever seen a pickle bush before??!!
Now THAT is funny.
Love your family, just sayin’
Lori and I made pickles last year and felt they were alright, we must try your recipe they sound great!ic
I want to make true pickles, but I hear they get a bit mushy…which to me is just a waste of perfectly good cucumbers. And my family loves you too.
I love rice wine vinegar for marinated pickles.
Oh sweetest little Lulu… I was the exact opposite growing up. I’d eat cucumbers by the fistful but would throw fits that resembled something from a paranormal exorcist movie if there was a pickle near me or something I was going to eat. It was definitely my brother’s go-to terrorizing tactic.
I wish pickles were that easy to grow. My family goes through them like crazy. I made almost this exact recipe a couple of weeks ago, but I was the only one who ate any of it! It was really great alongside some spicy couscous, though. They don’t know what they were missing!
What a sweet little honey bear. My Ayla does the same thing. HATES cukes, but loves pickles. She’s 4. Last year she loved the homemade refridgerator pickles (which are yummy and crunchy and SUPER easy to make!!) we made and this year spit it out and declared the same business about “hating cucumbers”. Whatevs…more for me!
I’d love to know which refrigerator pickles recipe you use!
Here you go – What I love about this recipe is that you can add fresh cucumbers, onion, garlic, etc. to the jar as your supply diminishes too! And they last for a long time in the fridge.
Enjoy!
REFRIGERATOR DILL PICKLES
Pickling Solution:
6 cups water
2 cups vinegar
1/2 cup canning salt
1/2 tsp. alum (optional)
Bring ingredients for the pickling solution to a boil.
enough fresh pickling cucumbers to fill a 1 gallon jar
1 large bunch fresh dill weed (about 1/4 lb)
1 large onion
2 whole cloves
2 tsp. sliced garlic
Wash about 4-5 lbs. freshly picked cucumbers. Layer whole, unpeeled cucumbers, onion, cloves and garlic and dill. Pour vinegar solution over the top, let set on counter for 3 or 4 hours.
Refrigerate, ready to eat in 2 to 4 days.
Variation: Sliced cucumbers may be used, and ingredient amounts can be varied to your taste.
Oh my goodness, thank you so much for taking the time to type this all out! I will definitely try them and keep my fingers crossed that Lulu gives them a shot.
They really look pretty pilled like that. I wonder if it is ok to use lemon juice instead of vinegar…
You could try, but I’m afraid it might taste like lemonade.
I now have my own bowl of pickles! Yum! It also inspired me to try making what my Grammy always made – mustard pickles!
I have to agree with Lulu here. I am 34 and have just recently gotten to the point where I can somewhat tolerate cucumbers in stuff. (mostly if there is some kind aof a marinade involved) I LOVE pickles and always have. I won’t plant cucumbers in my garden and politely decline the offer when my family has an overabundance in there’s. But when my brother in law takes those same said cucumbers and makes them into pickles I ask for a jar.
I just made these substituting sugar for the stevia and we LOVE them! My teenagers are challenging at times to feed but I’ve noticed already that these are easy for them to just grab and munch on. Great way to sneak an extra veg in!
Absolutely! Glad you guys like them, Andi. Thank you for the feedback.
Ha! I inadvertently made pickles this morning. Here I thought I was going to have some sliced and salted crunchy cucumbers with my lunch but when I opened the bowl four hours later I found they had turned into pickles! And it was great. Then I remembered your post and how simple and fabulous it sounded. I’ll be making them on purpose from now on.
I’m glad you liked yours!