"Poor Carol" Pickles

Inspired by my new book to embrace the local harvest, I bought some kirby cucumbers to make pickles with. From my Everyday Food Magazine, and found this recipe to have more instant (delicious) gratification than the one I used before, which produced a crisper pickle as a result of no-heat, but it just took too darn long to enjoy the results (2 weeks = 2 long for Sara to wait).

I'm calling these "Poor Carol" Pickles because (here's another one of my longish, unimportant stories)... there's this bar we go to in Oakland after particularly stressful nights at work. They make the BEST bloody marys, and they garnish them with pickled green beans and olives. My coworker, Carol, always asks for just a glass of green beans and olives, sans bloody mary.

So, I thought I would make these pickles, and experiment with green beans...for Carol. I brought a jar to work yesterday but Carol wasn't working.

"Whatcha got there?...Pickles?...I want to try one...These are good!...Can I try a green bean too?..." And before I knew it, the jar was empty! Poor Carol didn't get any :(

Instead of supplying the PICU with pickles forever, I gave them the recipe instead. And here it is for you:

4 to 6 Kirby cucumbers (about 1 pound), quartered lengthwise
1 cup white-wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar (I used only 1 Tablespoon)
3 tablespoons coarse salt (not iodized table salt)
1 teaspoon dill seed (I had/used dill sprigs instead)
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

Quarter your cucumbers (don't use the waxy, dark green ones).



In a medium saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, salt, dill seed, and garlic with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar and salt dissolve.



Pour over cucumbers.



Use a small plate to submerge cucumbers in liquid.



Refrigerate until cool, at least 2 hours. To store: Transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate up to 2 weeks. To serve, remove from liquid.