If you have a garden then you are probably aware of some common phrases I use this time of year. Like "A cucumber a day!", "We need to have zucchini for dinner, the fridge can't fit anymore." , "Anyone need any tomatoes, I can drop some off". I love my garden, I really do but sometimes you need to create new things out of what the garden produces everyday! Enter pickles!, they are the easiest way to use up some cucumbers and pretend they aren't cucumbers. Plus they can live in the fridge for a month or so, they happened to be the perfect option when you are overwhelmed. With these pickles I also get to use chili peppers, which I happen to have quite a few of also. It adds a great little kick to the ordinary dill pickle. If you don't have a garden, no worries the farmers markets have tons of peppers, garlic, dill, kirby cucumbers, and everything else you need for awfully cheap this time of year.

Here's what ya need:

White vinegar, water, sugar, salt, coriander seed, peppercorns, fresh dill, garlic, chili peppers, 6 kirby cucumbers, quart mason jars

This is what fresh dill looks like incase you are looking for it at a farmers market. The yellow flower type thing at the top is a good thing to look for. I used all the dill off these four stems for the two jars of pickles.

Step one: add the vinegar, water, salt and sugar to a mason jar. Put the top on and shake till the salt and sugar are dissolved.

Step two: Take the dill off the stem then cut the kirby cucumbers into spears.

Step three: roughly chop 2 cloves of garlic for each jar. For a mild pickle add 1/2 chili pepper after you take out the seeds. For a spicier pickle add up to two chili peppers with or without seeds. I usually do 1 and 1/2, 1 with most of the seeds and 1/2 with no seeds, and they aren't too hot.

Step four: add the dill, a good handful is needed. Then just split it up between the two jars. At the same time add the peppercorns and coriander seed.

Step five: next fill up the jars with the vinegar mixture, it will be enough to cover all the pickles and dill, but not enough to overflow when you dig in to get a pickle if ya know what I mean. Then just put the top on tight and give it a shake.

Step six: lastly put the jars in the fridge, and wait 24 hours (or longer, if possible) to enjoy!

The recipe

2 cups water

1 1/3 cups white vinegar

2 tbs sugar

3 tbs salt

6 (ish) kirby cucumbers

2tsp coriander seed

1 tbs peppercorns

handful fresh dill

4 cloves garlic

1 (or more) chili peppers

The extras:

- Like I mentioned you can use as many chili peppers as you like, but try at least some! It takes the pickles up a notch.

- This makes two mason jars of pickles with 6 normal size kirby cucumbers.

- The pickles will last about a month in the fridge, and will still be nice and crispy.

-Don't forget to mark them somehow if you make a mild jar and a spicy jar of pickles!

Enjoy!