Sweet pickles

Lately we have been getting tons of cucumbers from our farm share AND they were on sale at the grocery store. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, as cucumbers are a very good source of Vitamin C, plus fiber, Vitamin A, potassium, manganese, folate, and magnesium.

I've been serving cucumber slices, scooping out cucumber boats and cups, and adding them to salads left and right. Then it suddenly came to me – I should make a batch of pickles!

I love sweet pickles! I wasn't sure how involved the pickling process would be, and definitely wasn't in the market for an intense canning ordeal. I searched online, and found this ridiculously easy recipe for Sweet Summertime Pickles. I even broke out the mandoline to make evenly-sliced crinkle cut pickles. Just one day later, I had a batch of delicious sweet pickles in my fridge.

This is a recipe you should try if you have a bounty of summer cucumbers. They are the perfect accompaniment to grilled meats, sandwiches, and burgers. The kids have been crunching on them, and I even made a delicious summery salad with farm fresh lettuce and tomatoes, pickles and the pickled onions, and a scoop of tuna salad. These pickles have made for one happy mom and some happy kids.

I'd love to hear more kid-friendly ideas for ways to use cucumbers. I still have a lot of them!

Today's tip: Make your own pickles with fresh summer cucumbers.