Quick-Pickled Cucumbers

When I was a kid my mother used to make pickles quite often. The pickled beets, pickled herrings, and bread and butter pickles all had one thing in common - they all had onions in them. And the one thing I always told her was that she should have used more onions.

Yep, as a kid, I was hooked on pickled onions.

When I make pickles, I tend to get a little over-enthusiastic about onions, but you can adjust the quantity of onions in this recipe any way you like. Or leave them out entirely. I suggest adding some - they do add flavor to the pickles - but that's entirely up to you.

These pickles remind me a little bit of bread and butter pickles, but they're a lot quicker to make. They're refrigerator pickles rather than preserved pickles, so these are best made in small quantities.

And ... if you prefer, these don't have to be peeled, if you don't want to.

Quick-Pickled Cucumbers

1 quart, combined: Picking cucumbers, peeled and sliced, and onions, sliced
1 cup water
3/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon salt

Layer the cucumbers and onions in a quart jar (or two pint jars, if you refer).

Combine the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

Pour the hot liquid over the pickles.

Poke skewer or thin knife down the sides of the jar to get rid of any trapped air bubbles. Add more of the liquid, as needed, to cover the vegetables in the jar.

Cover the jar, let it com to room temperature, then refrigerate. These are ready to eat as soon as they're cool, but I like them best after they've rested for at least a day.

Yum