We love pickles. They are salty, crunchy and delicious, and go great with sandwiches, in tartar sauce, and just about anytime you want a snack.

Unfortunately, you have to wade through a lot of crappy pickles these days before you get something good. The country store adds sugar and, vinegar, and they are a tad too salty for my taste. At supermarkets, the news is even worse—most of the pickles have food coloring, high fructose corn syrup, msg and vinegar. Who ever heard of yellow pickles?

You might say that all pickles should have vinegar. Truth is, real pickles do not. They use just cucumbers, water and salt, along with spices such as dill, garlic, mustard, and pepper.

I make fresh pickles often, almost weekly. When I don’t feel like it, I can go to Whole Foods and get a couple of brands (Dan’s, Real Pickles, Bubbe’s and the store-made variety) that are all great, but sometimes a bit pricey.

But making them is SO easy. Here are the steps:

1. Fill a saucepan with 10 oz. spring water
2. Add a TS of coarse sea salt (or any other salt you like), plus a generous portion of fresh or jarred dill, dried garlic, mustard seed, or peppercorns, and bring to a boil. Shut it off and leave standing covered for a few minutes.
3. Rinse and cut off the ends of a couple of pickling cukes (I just bought two for $.67 at Stop & Shop). Then slice longways or into chips, and place in a jar.
4. Pour the water over until it covers the cucumber slices. Then cover and let stand on the counter for an hour or so. Refrigerate overnight or one day for young pickles, or 2-3 days for full pickles. They keep about ten days. If they are bland, use more salt next time.

Oh, and the health aspects of pickles are well known. Simply have a slice of pickle at the end of a meal to activate digestion. If you are not hungry for breakfast, or need a little help eliminating, a pickle slice can also do the trick.

Enjoy!