What is that Popping Sound?

What is that popping sound? Please let that be the pickles.  Either that or the cats have gotten a hold of a cap gun.  I am trying to make a healthy stab at my cookbook, before I impulsively add more books to the list. It is canning season, or as some people call it, August.  Prior to this year, I have never tinned, jellied or jammed a single thing.  My mother is an accomplished jelly maker and I have been able to use her jalapeño jelly as a bargaining tool, but that accomplishment has not been passed down to me genetically.  This is the first year that I have ever been involved in adventure, and I think I am in love, or at least my taste buds are.

After making jellies with my mom and with Lizzy, I decide to see what Betty Crocker has to say on the matter of canning.  Picking one of the remaining Betty Crocker cookbooks by random, I found that the 1988 Edition had a simple to read, possibly won't burn myself recipe on making Garlic Dill Pickles. I also had about 8 cucumbers in the fridge that needed to be used. The cucumbers I am using are in no relation to the Sea Pig, which is also a cucumber. I don't think that Garlic Dill Sea Pig Pickles would be all that tasty.

The one blessing about Betty Crocker, whom I feel should just be referred to as Betty here on out, is that her instructions are simple. She assumes that every one is an idiot when it comes to cooking.  I like this, because sometimes I am an idiot when it comes to cooking.  I am aware of my talents enough to know that there is a lot that I don't know when it comes to the kitchen and that pressure cookers scare me.   Thankfully the Garlic Dill Pickles do not require a pressure cooker, and had reduced the possibility of me dying due to a dill pickle marginally.

In fact the Garlic Dill Pickles seem deceptively simple. Slice cucumbers, toss it in a jar with dill and garlic and a few slices of onion and pour a brine over it and process in a cauldron of boiling water.  When it is done processing, let  the jar sit until cool, and there should be a popping noise to signify that the jars are sealed. I have no idea if the pickles have actually turned out,  mostly because I need to let them set for 6 weeks before opening.  Once they are opened and tasted, it will become evident if I have created a killer cucumber.  Until that time, I am just going to assume that everything is normal and hope for the best.