Sweet and Spicy Freezer Pickles

To be honest, this is a recipe I've made before. I made it last summer, when I was underemployed. Or maybe it was the summer beofre that, when I was unemployed? Either way, my mother is still bothering me to come get pickles out of her freezer.

I'm posting this recipe not because it's something new, but because people think I'm something special when I say I make pickles. Specifically, sweet and spicy freezer pickles.

I swear, I'm not special.

These things are so easy, anyone you trust to use a knife or stove can make them.

And freezing is SO much easier than canning.

Don't get me wrong, I wish I knew how to can. I wish I had time to can. And when the zombie apocolypse commences and power grids fail, sure I'll lose the pickles. But I'm trying, in the mean time.

Anyway, back to the pickles.

I went to a flea market on July 4, and bought cucumbers. Four for a dollar. I'll take that deal, thank you very much.

I already had nearly all the other ingredients. Heck, I had picked up white vinegar just because, with my coupon, the bottle was less than a dollar. I just needed a couple of jalapenos.

I just so happen to know a guy.

My dad owns John Rauf Mower Service. He also has an amatuer green thumb. So he gorws a bunch of things over at the shop. And by bunch, I mean irises out back and vegetables in pots. This soil has had grass clippings folded into it was 30 years. That's some nitrogen-rich dirt! And there's a significant lack of squirrel on Delhi Pike, so the family actually gets to eat what he grows. In addition to the (I think) six tomato plants, he has been doing pepper the past few years, too. So instead of going to the grocery store, I just head to Dad's to pick a couple jalapenos.

I picked two, since the recipe said I needed two.

When I got home, I realized that I probably had twice as much cucumber as the recipe called for, so I probably should have grabbed another two jalapenos. But I needed to get this done, so I was going to have to make do.

I peeled and sliced the cucumbers. I was not very good at keeping the slices consistent, but that has never bothered me.

I put in a couple spoonfuls of the pre-minced garlic into the bowl to start to meld with the cucumbers while I sliced the onions. 

I used double what the recipe called for as far as onions, but I did try to slice then very thin.

Then I diced up the jalapenos, saving the seeds to dump into a pot of soil I have on my porch (it had zinnias before the squirrels for to them).

Then I followed the directions for the liquid, doubling again. And I added some Tabasco at the end, just a couple of dashes, to make up for the lack of jalapeno. Yes, I know they aren't at all the same thing, but they've both got heat, right?

I mix everything as well as I can in a bowl that barely fits it all.

The pickles!

You let it sit for two days then package them up. I had reservations about the amount of liquid when I first covered them, but the cucumbers broke down enough that everything was eventually immersed. You have to freeze them with the juice/brine, too, so I filled five plastic containers to the brim. I'm sure plastic zip bags are a cheaper way of doing it, but containers stack better.

I don't know how they taste yet because I have yet to take them out of the freezer. In fact, I won't take them out until I run out of pickles in the fridge. Or perhaps I'll take some camping?

Either way, if they aren't hot enough, I'll add more Tabasco. But I'm sure they'll be tasty either way.