Stolen Sun Pickles A Timeless Treat

by Stephanie Overla

Stolen Sun Pickles

INGREDIENTS

• Pickling cucumbers, enough to fill one or more gallon jars • 3 medium-large garlic cloves • 1 quart white vinegar • 2 quarts water • 1 cup kosher salt • 3 grape leaves • 1 bunch of dill • 3-6 black peppercorns • 1 slice rye bread • Sliced onion, jalapeno, if you’d like.

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash the cucumbers really well; soak them if they are particularly sandy. Make sure that the blossom end is removed from all cucumbers. 2. I pick grape leaves off a grapevine in our yard on the day of use. Any variety is fine. The grape leaves add tannins to your pickles, which helps keep the perfect crunch. 3. A bunch of dill includes the dill flowers, the dill stems, and the leaves, all of which make for a rustic, lovely-looking jar of pickles. 4. Pack the cucumbers, grape leaves, dill, peppercorns, and garlic into a gallonsize glass jar. I pack everything in pretty tightly because I want as many pickles for the fridge space as possible. 5. In a separate container, combine the remaining ingredients, except for the bread slice, to make the pickling solution. Stir well to dissolve the salt, which must be kosher salt as other salts can cause cloudiness in the jar.

6. Pour the pickling solution over the cucumbers, leaving about an inch of space at the top of the jar. Place the rye bread slice on the top of the solution and gently press it in to soak up the liquid. Yes, this is a strange but necessary step, as the bread is what aids in the fermentation process.The bread will float and will not break apart if not jostled much. I still do this step even though I’m on a strict gluten-free diet. 7. Tightly secure the lid on the jar, and place it in a sunny spot for three full days and nights. Rotate the jar 180 degrees each day. Then remove the rye bread slice carefully and discard. Chill the jar of pickles for 24 hours before serving. 8. If you are making more than one jar, just repeat the pickling solution and add more grape leaves, dill, garlic, peppercorns as needed. We have made up to 12 gallon jars in a given year! They make great gifts and they are nice for holiday platters, if they make it that long! These pickles last six to nine months in the refrigerator. Our garage refrigerator has been the perfect place to store them. 9. This tried and true recipe has never failed us! Make sure that your ratio of salt to vinegar to water is correct, to ensure the safety of the fermentation process.

Before eating, always check your pickles for signs of spoilage, in order to avoid foodborne illness. Red flags include an “off” smell, cloudiness or bubbling in the jar, bulging or cracks in the container or lid, or a change of the color of the pickles. For many years, my family has been making this pickle recipe when bushels of pickling cucumbers become available in farm markets Up North in late August and early September. This is also the time when temperatures during the day are starting to mellow out and the temperatures at night dip down, which is great for this pickle-making process. Our favorite place to buy these cucumbers by the bushel is Orchard Market on Highway 31 between Ludington and Manistee, Michigan.

Way back when, my maternal grandmother used to grow these small pickling cucumbers in her large family garden and my grandfather would use them to make these pickles in a large wooden barrel outside of their back door. When my mom was a kid, she used to sneak out the back door and steal a pickle every so often from the barrel. She knew then that these pickles were something special.

Since then, the old recipe has been modified to ensure food safety and the portions adapted for one-gallon jars rather than a huge pickle barrel, but making the pickles remains a fun and delicious tradition. We have shared these pickles with friends and family over the years and they are always well received, even described as “the best pickles I’ve ever had!” And the paper recipe is then copied for yet another family to enjoy.

Stephanie Overla, a down-to-earth mom of four, received classical training as a chef at Le Cordon Bleu. After working for more than 10 years in the fast-paced culinary industry as an executive chef at a Michigan casino resort, she left that world to raise a family on whole grains and home cooking. Being from northwest Michigan, she has a passion for do-it-yourself, which, for her, translates into canning, freezing, and fermenting farm-fresh, by the bushel foods. Some favorites in addition to Stolen Sun Pickles are Pickled Beets and Corn Relish, as well as Peach Jam with Vanilla Bean. Along with her husband and family, Stephanie currently resides in Dexter. She is now a substitute teacher, with big summer dreams of large vegetable gardens and lazy days on the Huron River.