pickles

I seem to always try to make fridge pickles. My problem, a) I never have "enough" cucumbers or whatever it is I am pickling, b) I don't really measure my brine ingredients c) or my spices, d) I rush it and e) I don't follow directions well.

So, these are sort of from Mark Bittman's website.  I'd say, wait until I see if winging it is sufficient enough OR if you want to jump on this train right now, follow the directions.  His directions not mine.

I wonder if this realization about how I make pickles could correlate to how I live my life...both the positive and the negatives of it all.  Hmmm. Maybe there's room for some soul searching here.

This is what they look like, at this point (the beginning):

What I did was: took 1 Persian cucumber, 2 large radishes, 2 summer squashes and probably 6-8 cloves of garlic.  Then I cut them all up and shoved them in the jar, like the other recipe says, I sprinkled spices as I went.  I used: dry dill, coriander, black peppercorn, yellow mustard seeds, fennel, bay leaves and a thing my friend got me from St. Martin's called magic spice. Oh, and salt.   I also boiled 1/4 cup kosher salt with 3 cups of water and 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar.  Once it was boiled, I poured as much as I could over the veggies, closed the top, shook it all around and added more.  I did this a few times until I lost what felt like too many of my spice balls....you know what I mean.  And now, they come to room temp and I leave them in the fridge for 2+ days.

I'll let you know how they turn out!

Ever make quick fridge pickles? Got a good recipe? What have you been cooking now that summer is here?