Quick Pickles Two Ways

On the left we have refrigerator bread and butter pickles.  On the right "cheater" dill pickles.
The bread and butter are far and away the better pickles, but it was fun to try the dill too.

Neal saw a suggestion on t.v. (he can't remember where) for reusing pickle juice to make more pickles.  We thought we'd give it a try.  He cut several kirby cucumbers into quarters and stuck them into a jar of Claussen pickle juice.  After a couple of days they tasted vaguely like pickles.  At that point, I added two minced cloves of garlic, about a tablespoon of salt, and half a teaspoon of mustard seed into the mix.  After about two more days they are pretty decent.  Not good enough to stop me from trying my own brine from scratch next time, but a fun experiment.
Note:  When I looked up information on the web about doing this, I saw a few people saying that they thought it might not be safe to reuse the brine.  Others thought it would be fine.  I haven't keeled over from eating my pickles, but I suppose I should warn you to try this at your own risk!

The bread and butter pickles were a cinch to make and are so crispy and not too sweet, just the way I like them.  You'll need 1 quart jar, about 15 Kirby cucumbers, 1 medium white onion, 1.5 cups of vinegar, 1.5 cups of white sugar, 2 TBSP salt, 1/2 teaspoon each turmeric, mustard seed, and celery seed.
Slice the pickles and onions and layer them into the quart jar, packing it full.  Stir together the vinegar and sugar over medium high heat until the sugar dissolves.  Remove the mixture from the heat and add the spices.  Then pour the mixture over the cucumbers and onions in the jar, screw on the lid, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.  We tried ours after about 36 and they were fabulous!

Please tell us about your pickling experiences or your favorite kind of pickled veggies.