Donna’s Day: 24-hour refrigerator vegetable pickles

On a recent afternoon when my son texted me to check in, I nimbly replied with sticky fingers, “I’m preoccupied with taking pics of pints of pickled…”

While laughing at the preponderance of P’s, I accidentally pressed “send.” He immediately wrote back, “Pickled PEPPERS? … ha!”

OK, so I may have left the peppers out of this recipe, but keeping with the “Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled” verse that took us back to his childhood, I simply replied, “perhaps.”

Wordplay and food play are interchangeable with kids, no matter their age.

Preparing pickled veggies this time of year is the perfect antidote for using and enjoying the abundance of fresh, tender and tasty produce in our gardens and markets.

You and your kids can create jars full to stack in the refrigerator in less than an hour for a month of tasty sides.

Discover, like my family, that the vegetables will be sweet like bread and butter pickles, but will pack more flavor than the traditional grocery-store fare.

24-Hour Pickles

Servings: 6 pints

Ingredients

For the brine:

5 cups distilled white vinegar

5 cups sugar

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1/4 cup mustard seed

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

6 bay leaves

Fresh dill (optional)

For the vegetables:

3 cucumbers, sliced in discs or quartered lengthwise

6 medium carrots, peeled and quartered lengthwise

2 big handfuls of green beans

1 medium cauliflower, broken into pieces

2 onions, halved and sliced

Procedure

In a saucepan, combine the first six brine ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is completely dissolved. Place the vegetables in a large bowl.

An adult should pour the hot brine mixture over the vegetables. Cool. Transfer equally to six clean jars, tucking a bay leaf and dill, if you choose, in each one. Screw lids on tightly and place in the refrigerator.

Refrigerate for 24 hours before serving. Keep refrigerated and use within one month.