Cheryl Orr: Bonnie’s Refrigerator Pickles perfect for cucumber season

One of the things I love about eastern North Carolina is the friendliness and hospitality of life in a small Southern town. We may not all be locals, or even originally from the South, but the kindness of friends and neighbors is a common thread in our region.

Recently, my friend and neighbor — Bonnie Pierce — brought us a jar of her wonderful pickles. In Edenton, Bonnie is known for her many volunteer endeavors in town, including leading the Trolley Tours with lively banter of the history of Edenton’s historic sites.

With cucumbers coming on strong in our gardens, her Refrigerator Pickle recipe is a timely addition for your kitchen repertoire.

Quick pickles or refrigerator pickles are easy to make with homegrown or farm stand cucumbers. You can get small pickling cucumbers at a farmers market, and some grocers even carry Kirbys at times for pickling.

Bonnie’s recipe makes a nice zesty pickle, but you can alter it to taste. She says she changes the recipe by what she has on hand, and if you like a hotter pickle, add a pepper to the recipe.

Bonnie adds, “Sometimes if I have no dill I will use basil or sage. It’s easy to experiment!”

This week I have included Bonnie’s recipe for refrigerator pickles.

Enjoy!

Bonnie’s Refrigerator Pickles

Ingredients

Glass jars with tight-fitting lids

About 12 ounces of Kirby or pickling cucumbers, sliced into spears or rounds

2 cups white vinegar

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons pickling spice (mustard seed, dill seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and peppercorns)

Fresh dill or other herbs

Whole garlic cloves

1 small red, yellow or orange sweet pepper, whole

Sliced onion

Preparation

Sanitize jars and lids in boiling water. When jars are cool enough to handle, pack them with cucumbers, pickling spice, fresh herbs, garlic, pepper and onion slices.

In a non-reactive pan, boil 1 cup of the vinegar with salt and sugar and stir until dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the last cup of vinegar to slightly cool the mixture.

Add enough of the vinegar mixture to each jar to completely cover the cucumbers and flavorings. Tightly cover the jars with the lids and refrigerate for 24 hours. Refrigerator pickles will keep for one month.