My kids love pickles. Any kind, any flavor, any color. We eat them on everything – on hamburgers, on all kinds of sandwiches for that matter, including grilled cheese. I know what you’re thinking, that it sounds nasty. Try it. Next time you make a grilled cheese sandwich, open the sandwich (after it’s grilled), put some sweet pickles (sometimes called bread and butter pickles) inside. Trust me, it’s tasty.
I wanted to teach my kids how to make pickles but didn’t want to mess with pressure cookers and canning. My kids don’t have the patience for canning right now (truthfully, neither do I). Who can wait three months to eat what you made? Refrigerator pickles are a good compromise. The recipe says to wait a week before you eat them, but you can taste them during the wait (to check the progress).
August is a perfect time for pickling. Get your cucumbers at a local farmers’ market, where they are usually better quality and less expensive. Look for small cucumbers and make sure they are green (not yellow) and free from blemishes and mold. Ask the person at the stall which cucumbers work the best for pickling. Make sure you wash them very well before you use them – cucumbers can be pretty dirty.
Refrigerator Pickles
6 cups thinly sliced cucumbers
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons canning salt
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 cup chopped onion
Put sliced cucumbers and onions in a large bowl. Put remaining ingredients in a saucepan and heat until sugar melts. Pour mixture over cucumbers and onions and stir until mixed. Refrigerate and stir a few times the first 12 hours. Keep in the refrigerator for at least one week, then enjoy!
Cooking with the kids
Smaller kids can help with most of this recipe. Put the sliced cucumbers and onions in a big bowl so the kids can stir everything together. Give them wooden spoons and have them stir until all the cucumbers and onions are combined. Then, the kids can help measure the remaining ingredients into the saucepan. A grown-up should heat the mixture; it gets pretty hot by the time the sugar melts.
Let the mixture cool a little and then pour it over the cucumber and onions. Let the kids stir again (or until they get tired of it). Put everything in a large bowl with a cover (I like to use Pyrex bowls so my kids can see through the class cover). Let the kids stir and taste the pickles every day. You can ask the kids about the changes in the cucumbers and onions; the texture, color, and taste. If your kids are a little older, talk about the science of pickling and fermentation. If you need to refresh your memory on the science (I did), the University of Minnesota’s Extension Service web site is helpful, and they also have fun pickling recipes (Extension.umn.edu).
Bridget O’Boyle is a parent of two lively kids and teaches kids and grown-ups to cook at Cooks of Crocus Hill.
