Pickled pink (or blue?)

Hello my wonderful readers, are you still there? I’ve been MIA for a couple months, but I think I have the best excuse of them all:

I’ve got a bun in the oven … and it ain’t sourdough : )

We’re over the moon! But the nausea, food aversions and fatigue wreaked havoc on my blog activity—not to mention Dave’s dinner. In the first trimester, most of the time I could barely bring myself to eat, let alone cook something. And while the morning sickness has subsided, I still find myself disgusted by many foods, and turned off entirely by the act of cooking for myself (short of microwaving a burrito or throwing some mac’n’cheese on the stove).

If I do cook, the thought of documenting the meal often seems exhausting. So there you have it: A tiny human is stealing my energy, brainpower and resources. And I’m loving every minute of it.

So what better post to return with than homemade dill pickles? While aversion is more of a theme for me these days than craving, I have had a weakness for that old pregnancy cliche (hold the ice cream). So I thought I’d try my hand at pickling some cukes—quickly of course.

Quick, homemade dill pickles

You’ll need:

10 or so Persian cucumbers (regular will do if you can’t find these, but go for smaller ones)

1 tbsp dill

1/8 tbsp garlic

1/8 tbsp mustard powder

1 cup water

1 cup distilled white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

salt

Cut cucumbers in thin slices (about 1/8-inch thick) and set aside in a colander. Sprinkle generously with salt and dill and let sit while you prepare the brine.

In a saucepan, mix remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat.

Put pickles in a jar and pour brine over them. Allow to cool to room temp and then chill in the fridge for a half-hour or so.

I sanitized a jar by boiling it in hot water for several minutes, but these quick pickles—assuming you plan to eat them within a week or so—should be fine in the fridge without that step.