I just couldn’t stand it. I had to can or pickle something. Anything. I wanted to try my new Weck canning jars that I got last October, and I finally decided I was going to try this recipe I had for pickled onions! Oh, and another garlic new pickle slice recipe, too! Done gone through all the garlic pickles from late last summer.

The onions were something I’ve always wanted to try. I think they have to be fabulous on a hot dog or a grilled sausage! Not to mention on a nice roast beef sandwich??? Hello? Oh my gosh, that sounds delish!!!

But you know, the nice thing is that you don’t have to pickle and can 42 quarts to enjoy the process. Just do a few, or heck, even just one. You can test out recipes that you might like to try in a larger batch later on. And you won’t waste a ton of money on materials.

Pickled Onions Moby Style

1 large sweet onion
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon of pickling salt
1 teaspoon of pickling spices
1/2 teaspoon of mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon of celery seed

Bring all spices and liquids to a nice little boil in a saucepan. Lower the heat to a simmer and add your onion, cut in slices or however you’d like! Simmer for a minute or two, just enough to soften the onions a wee bit. Don’t boil! Pour into a hot and sterilized jar, allow to cool. Seal and pop into the frig. Allow at least 24 hours for the flavors to all meld and saturate. Longer for good results! You can process these pickles, at 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. However, this sized recipe only creates about a pint jar full of onions and you can eat them right up in no time!

Since I had two lovely English long cucumbers in my frig, I decided to try a new garlic frig pickle recipe, too! I’m not sure how it will turn out, but it looked delectable when I finished up and the brine seemed tasty…. I had to snitch one fresh and see. Given a few days to really mature, I think they will be great. I’ll report back in a while! In the meanwhile… here’s the recipe!

Garlic New Pickles

2 long cukes cut into slices
2 large cloves of garlic (not the whole bulb, just two good sized cloves)
a dash of ground ginger
half a sliced onion
1 teaspoon of pickling salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 cup of rice vinegar
1/2 cup of water

Cut and pack the pickles and onions into a clean, sterilized jar. With the remaining ingredients, place in a small saucepan and get to a boil. Once boiling, allow to cool for one minute and then pour into the jar with the pickles. Allow to cool, then seal, and slowly tip and turn to get the liquid nicely flowing through the slices. Place in the frig for at least 5 days, allowing to pickle. Then enjoy! These are not meant for canning and processing.

It’s so fun and easy to just make up small batches of pickles! You don’t need to make a huge production of it. I made both jars under an hour, watching a movie and just chopping and boiling a bit of brine. Ok, maybe they won’t last a whole season for my family, but they are still cheaper than store bought fancy pickles, and I know exactly what went into them. Good fresh, natural ingredients. And I’m quite sure, they will be delicious! And the best part? If I like the recipes and they go into the Moby Master Cookbook, then that’s EVEN better! We’ll be sure to make them again and again for years to come! Give it a try! Pickle something!!!