From “Testicles” to pickles. It’s how we roll around here. Now, who doesn’t love a good dill pickle: delicious, crunchy, a little pungent, slightly sour, a touch salty, and a tinge of garlic.
And these phallic shaped warty green numbers are healthy too! Remember when I wrote all about probiotics? Well these naturally, lactic acid fermented pickled cucumbers carry the good bacteria forming guys with them. You saw in the video above how crazy simple they are to make, so no excuses. Get your jar, get your cucumbers (or little onions, or beets, or carrots, or peppers, or mix of the lot) and get pickling.
Wow. First Grandma Meghan’s Tomato sauce and now pickles? I am totally an old Italian meets Jewish Bubbie. Pass me my house dress and slippers, got to get my curlers in my hair quick as can be, my stories are about to start.
Oh wait one second, before I go I thought you might still be wondering why I am telling you to make your own pickles. As any lady knows, not all pickles are created equal. Let’s compare and contrast for a moment.
Here are the Ingredients for my pickles:
Meghan’s Pickles
Mason jar’s worth of cucumbers (or vegetable of choice)
2 Tbs celtic sea salt
1 Tbs Dills seeds or 1 bunch fresh dill
1 Tbs mustard seeds
1-2 cloves of garlic, sliced (optional)
Water- enough to cover vegetable
(Add all to jar, leave on counter for three days then transfer to fridge. Ready and serve!)
Bick’s (Store Bought) Dill Pickles:
Cucumbers, water, glucose-fructose and/or sugar, white vinegar, salt, spices, dill weed, calcium chloride, polysorbate 80, turmeric.
For ease, I have italicized the ingredients that have no place on a pickle.
I love pickles. LOVE them. As in I have been known to repurpose my favorite pickle juice in recipes because I don’t want to waste it. My favorite store-bought variety being McClure’s spicy pickles. Problem is that at $12 a pop, it’s not a habit I can justify keeping up with. I have four empty bottles and I think it’s high time I make my own.
no vinegar? why do most recipes call for the vinegar? it must act as a preservative.
my kids love pickles too. l will be trying this if I can find some fresh cucumbers still.
“PICKLES, PICKLES, PICKLES!!”
Haha love it
Looks great! I’m printing this recipe out for my folks, who are quite keen on pickles.
We made our own pickles this summer (we had tons of cucs from our garden). We used vinegar though and sealed them by placing the jars in boiling water. There was no point in doing that since we finished the jars within a month!
Love the pickle video! Can’t wait to make ‘em. I’m guessing that I can use any clean jar and don’t need to seal the jar in any special way?
I am assuming the vinegar in traditional recipes is to preserve them… how long does that mean these pickles will keep for in the fridge??
I’m with everyone on the vinegar question. The recipe I’m using next week has apple cider vinegar in it.
How cool is that! Thanks Meghan
Whoa! So easy! I don’t even like pickles that much but now I want to make them…Hmmm, I’m seeing some pickle jars under the Christmas tree this year…
Ps. I HAVE a house dress. I’m 25….But it has a hood, so it’s modern…Whatever, get off me, Bubbie.
Once prepared and in the fidge, any idea how long they are good for?
This might be a daft question….
but do the pickles taste vinegary without vinegar in? I have always quite liked the vinegar taste with pickles.
Thank You for using the Celtic Sea Salt™ to make your pickles. Have a great day!
FYI, I posted a link to your blog on http://www.healthytippingpoint.com. Caitlin’s mission is similar to yours and she has a pot that needs to be cleaned. I remembered your adventure with Coca-cola and referred her to you. Drop her a line, perhaps she’d post your video!!
P.S. My Bubbie passed away years ago… You and I are the same age but I’ll let you be my Bubbie anyday! ; )
I just wanted to say that I have completely fallen in love with your blog! I found it a couple of days ago and have repeatedly clicked “older posts” until just a few minutes ago, I reached the end =) (or I guess, the beginning). Your story hit so close to home to me. My mother suffered from Crohn’s disease from about the time I was born (1986) until around the mid to late 90′s- when she had 18″ of her colon removed. Luckily for her, she has not really had a symptom since- which is very rare. Most surgeries/medications never have lasting effects. I’ve seen her on all types of medications- particularly prednisone, which had so many terrible side effects. Once I was older, she told me about the pain she used to suffer, which I just can’t imagine. You are both so strong for going through this. I find it so empowering that you were able to overcome Crohn’s through listening to your body and proper nutrition. I’ve always been very stubborn about taking any sort of medications; always believing in the “mind over matter” approach I guess. When I was 13 years old, I was diagnosed with skin cancer. Melanoma had spread all throughout my left arm, and I had immediate surgery after. I go for routine check-ups and haven’t had a recurrence since, and I’m determined to keep it that way. I am from a Cajun family in south Louisiana- a group of Americans who are notoriously unhealthy. However, what most of my culture has seemed to forgotten is that yes, we have crawfish boils, etouffee, boudin, etc., but that our ancestors did not have it for every meal and in such enormous portions. It is hard to be this concerned with healthy eating in a culture that is so passionate about holding on to “their food”. I have been a “vegetarian”, a “vegan”, a “fill-in-the-blank”, in the past, but what I have come to realize lately, is that instead of trying to become some type of label, I needed to just focus on eating and being what i considered whole and true- trying to listen to what my body is telling me it needs, and I feel like blogs like yours are great inspirations for me. I used to always take the “all or nothing” approach (I realize I’m using way to many quotations, I usually don’t but it’s easier for me to say these things and project their meaning rather than type them =/ ). When I would fail at being a vegan, I would just throw my hands up and give up on the idea all together. Another year would pass, and I’d become a vegetarian again- then I would have some crawfish during the season and give up again. Now that I have been rambling for about a half hour, I guess my point is that I have been doing a lot of reading (on the internet, “In Defense of Food”, “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle”… etc.) and have realized that humans really are what they eat. Diet has way more of an effect on humans’ every day lives and future than people, especially Americans, give it credit for. This may seem very silly, but I realized this most when I recently switched my dog (the true love of my life) to an all organic, mostly (with the occasional “i’m to lazy organic canned dog food) homemade diet. The results were phenomenal! His skin was no longer itchy, his coat was bright and gleaming- even his eyes were shiny! He looked forward to his meals everyday- he actually put on a pound or two in the beginning due to the fact that he seemed so hungry i was giving him more than he needed (he really was just too in love with the new diet =). Seeing, first hand, how much a healthy, all organic, diet could change the life of my dog, it made me jump right into changing my own diet. I used to always use the “struggling college student budget” excuse, but then realized that good quality food definitely surpassed many of my other so-called needs. Day by day, I have been making changes or “upgrades” to my health and diet. Your website is such an amazing source for new ideas. This post has most probably become one of your longest in history, but I guess I just wanted you to know how much you have changed the life of a young Louisianian, and I look forward to hearing more through your blog everyday!
UM YUM!
I’m pickling the last of our 2009 crop of pickling cukes and some small banana peppers. Thanks for the recipe. Looks great!
[...] a Holistic Lifestyle Consultant- click on the link and watch Meghan make the pickles on youtube: http://meghantelpnerblog.com/2009/10/08/cut-the-pickle-tickle-tickle/ #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: [...]
[...] tomato, avocado, spinach, and a wonderful homemade Dill Pickle!!!! You can find the recipe here at Meghans blog. This was a crazy easy and FUN way to make your own pickles all natural and no sugar. Bonus. They [...]
Meghan, would this recipe work for pickling other veggies? I have been craving pickled cauliflower (I had it once at a buffet – yum!), but I was wondering if this same recipe would work…?
Thanks!
[...] I usually plant at least a tomato plant. This year, I’ve been so obsessed with the idea of making my own pickles that I planted 3 pickling cucumber plants in addition to my tomato and melon plants. I also [...]
Vinegar is used in the cooking pickle variety- no the traditional fermented variety. That’s how you know a good pickle!
I would recommend the mason jars- only because you get a tight seal with room for a little expansion. Have never tried it with any others- let me know how it works
Forever?
I want a modern hoodie house dress! I fear though I may never take it off again
The good bacteria in naturally fermented pickles produce lactic acid which then preserves the pickles. Adding vinegar when making pickles is a replacement for the lactic acid.
vinegar processed pickles = no beneficial probiotics
You’re hired!
I am only answering you because you used the word ‘daft’.
They taste like pickles. I guess they have a little vinegar fizzle but I don’t remember when I last ate those other kinds.
I have yet to try it- but it definitely should. Only one way to find out. Trick is to keep everything submerged.