I picked up a pre-packed bag of pickling cucumbers at a local Korean supermarket over the weekend. I actually only needed one for dinner but ended up picking up the bag since it was slightly less expensive, and the cucumbers looked fresher than the individual ones. Now, stuck with eight pickling cukes, I had to come up with a way to use them up before they would go bad. My initial thought was to make a big batch of sunomono (a Japanese cucumber and seaweed salad that I’m sure you’ve had at a sushi restaurant, and the name translates to “something with vinegar”), but instead, I decided on homemade pickles! So I dusted off the glass jars I inherited from my sister (who had a cabinet-full of them, thanks to her Trader Joe’s Bolognese sauce addiction :)) and got to work!

I made my own, original pickling liquid by boiling apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, salt, and a little drizzle of soy sauce together. I tossed in some garlic, dill, dried red peppers, and peppercorns in jars, along with cucumbers cut in half, before pouring in the piping hot brine. I cannot wait to pop open the jar for the homemade pickles in about a month! This is my first pickling attempt so I have no idea how they would turn out, but I will let you know how they came out (and post the recipe) once I have the chance to bite into them!

By the way, can you believe it’s already September? It’s even crazier to think that we are only three months away from Christmas. Yes, THREE! Seriously, where did the time go? Since it was a very pleasant summer this year in Los Angeles in terms of weather (I dodged a several days of severe heat wave in the area by traveling), it felt like summer just came and went.  I am enjoying every bit of what’s left of the season and pickling is my attempt to preserve the goodness of summer.