Dilly Beans

I confess, I'm a green bean addict - the fresher the better. Oddly enough, before this morning I had never in my life had a pickled green bean. Last night was filled with green bean trimming, gardening, and pickling. I couldn't wait to try one, but alas they were still too hot when I finally went to bed. Perhaps pickled green beans are not the ideal breakfast food, but I just couldn't wait to open a jar up this morning. They are so good! Crunchy, pickle-y, and green bean-y. Yummy. This recipe is almost identical to the Dilled Beans recipe in the Ball  Complete Book of Home Preservation. I did however increase the pickling liquid amount as I had roughly the four pounds of beans the original recipe called for, but instead of making 6 pints as the original recipe estimates, I had enough for 8 pints. Before you say anything, I packed those green beans in there good! Such is the life of a canner I suppose (if I can ever bestow that wonderful title upon my amateur self yet), I've come to realize you just have to go with the flow, and be thrilled when you are blessed with a few more half-pints/pints/quarts than you had planned.

Our neighbor has to be one of the nicest people I've ever met. He's a gardener like myself and we often chit chat through our dividing privacy fence - mostly about our gardens, and we also do a little complaining about the wacky weather in our neck of the woods. A high of 78 degrees one day and then bottoming out to 39 degrees three days later - c'mon! Today canning became the topic of conversation. Silly me, I guess I hadn't realized men like to can, too! Having never heard of dilly beans, he wanted to try some. I gave him a pint and they were a big hit. In return, there is now a stick of deer sausage in our refrigerator and he offered more if we liked it. It's nice to know that there are still nice and neighborly people in this often too-busy-to-be-nice kinda world. 

Dilly Beans

makes 8 pint jars

4 c. White Vinegar

4 c. Water

1/4 c. Pickling Salt

4 lbs Green Beans, trimmed to jar-size

3 Bell Peppers (I used yellow, red, and orange)

4 tsp. Dill Seed or 8 Heads of Dill

8 Garlic Cloves

32 Whole Peppercorns

Prepare jars, bands, and lids. Combine salt, vinegar, and water in a large sauce pan. Bring to boil. To each jar add 1/2 tsp. Dill Seed (or 1 Head of Dill), 1 Garlic Clove (I split mine lengthwise to release more flavor), 4 Whole Peppercorns, then pack in green beans and bell pepper mixture. Ladle hot pickling liquid into each jar, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles, add more pickling liquid if necessary, wipe rim of jar, and affix lid. Process jars for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit in canner for additional 5 minutes before removing. Cool, label and store.