Pleasure to see you here today!

Hello Hello! This is the long-term project that I mentioned last week because it involves pickling! Yay! This week I learned a few things. First: Quadruple check before permanently deleting a file. What a pain. Second: The difference between an herb and a spice. A spice is the dried root, seed, or any other part of the plant. The important part is that it’s dried. On the other hand, an herb is fresh. This week, I used an herb, and not a spice, the fresh part of the dill. *le gasp.* 

Dill

Anethum graveolens, commonly known as dill, is the only plant within its genus, Anethum. Interesting. Dill is unsurprisingly a very popular herb and a very popular spice. The seed bulbs are used as spices, and the leaves (very sadly called “dill weed”) are used as an herb. The plant is native to the Mediterranian areas and Western Asia. Dill is commonly paired with salmon, potatoes, beets, and pickles. Right here is a full meal loaded with dill! 

Dill Pickles

I canned these last week, on Saturday. I opened them on Friday. As you can see, it takes a long time to get them to pickle! This is relatively short, though, in comparison to other pickles. Lots of pickles are fermented, which means the process can take weeks, even months, to finish the process. I am a person with no patience, and dill is an herb, so it seemed right to me to do dill pickles. My family happens to love pickled food (my dad has multiple vinegar/vegetable/jar combination concoctions in the fridge at a time), and so this was not out of the ordinary at all. I love anything sour, but for those of you who aren’t such big fans, I’ll have a modified recipe below.

Bon Appétit! 

Spice Girl

Recipe

Makes: 1 jar of pickles

Prep Time: 7 minutes

Cook Time: None

Refrigeration Time: 5-7 days

Ingredients

-1 medium cucumber

-4 ounces water

-4 ounces apple cider vinegar

-Large dill sprig

-¾ tablespoon salt

-Optional: 1 teaspoon sugar

You will also need: An 8-ounce jar

1. Cut your cucumbers into strips. People recommend specific types of cucumbers for this, but I just used what I had. 
2. Add the water into your jar. Then add your vinegar. I find that 1:1 works really well for my taste buds, but if you want it a little less tangy and sour, then 5:3 (water: vinegar) also works. 
3. Add in your cucumber and dill.
4. Screw the jar tight and let sit in the refrigerator for a week. 
5. Enjoy!