DILL PICKLES

Today was "dill pickle" day. Our friend, Ida Frizzell, called several days ago and told us she would be getting pickles on Thursday. How many did we want? Our usual is three five gallon buckets of pickles ( enough to make 50+ quarts of dills). She gets the pickles from a nephew who grows pickles over near Waupaca.

The pickles don't get picked up in Amherst until early afternoon, so Karol takes time and heads to our "lake" to feed bread to the fish. 

First off is the scrubbing. While the pickles have lost most of their dirt, they need to be cleaned again, one by one. No one likes to crunch sand when eating dill pickles. Megan and Luke each helped for a few minutes.

Megan cleans a pickle so that she can have a taste.

Now that the "little babies" are clean, they are ready to head to the packer - Karol has positioned many pickles in hundreds of jars, so she really is the EXPERT packer.

The pickles are packed; dill, alum, sugar, salt, onion and a vinegar/water mix have been added; the lids have been boiled to sofen and sterilize the rubber; and now they are ready for the hot water bath.

The jars sit in the boiling water for about 13 minutes, or just enough time for them to turn from their bright green color to "pickle color."

Now they're ready to be taken to the cooling table where they will lose their head, and the lid will seal.

The finished product. This year, we processed 77 quarts with Holly and Nathan's help. The pickles need about two weeks to cure and then we'll be ready to enjoy them. Our last jar of pickles from last year is presently in the refrigerator - life will go on without a hitch, and we won't ever "be in a pickle!"