Pickled Green Beans

We have picked about 300 green beans in the last two weeks.
Well, that is before Rich killed our green bean plant (he will be in a cranky mood in 5...4...3...2.... he takes murdering our plants extremely seriously.)
I take eating our plants seriously, but even I cannot eat 70 pounds of green beans.

So.... what the hell does one incredibly smart and attractive girl do with three bushels of green beans?

trendy.

Well, that (pretty and brilliant) girl jumps on this odd trend of pickling. 

Pickling is trendy?

......I guess so. 

I mean, when mason jars and canning pots have their own display at every snooty home and kitchen store, I am going to go out on a whim and say that I just may be jumping on the bandwagon with this whole thing. 

I am not a trailblazer. 

It just so happens that you can pickle just about anything..... and the majority of those things will taste really good in a bloody mary which is right up my ally. 

Ingredients:

1/2 pound of green beans, trimmed (BS. I clearly did not weigh our harvest.... so stuff as many as will fit into a quart sized Mason Ball Jar)

1 cup white vinegar

1 cup water

1/4 onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, smashed

1/2 jalapeno, sliced

2 tsp yellow mustard seeds

1 tbsp white granulated sugar

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp salt

3-5 sprigs of fresh dill (fresh dill is so yummy.... you can sub for dried, but you shouldn't)

Method:

These are refrigerator pickles. You do not need to sanitize the jar. You don't need to boil it. You don't need any equipment. 

Begin by filling the mason jar with green beans, sliced onions, jalapenos, garlic, and dill. Make it look nice for God's sake..... nobody wants to eat/ look at ugly food.

In a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, water, sugar, and spices to a boil. 

Pour the hot mixture into the mason jar leaving about 1/2 an inch at the top. If there is still room at the top just add a little vinegar and water. Screw the lid on, set aside to cool and then refrigerate. The beans should be ready in a day or two and will last for a month in the fridge..... if you can muster up the will power to not devour them all in 3 days.