In 1981, my very first entry ever at the Minnesota State Fair was for Kosher Dill Pickles.  I must have decided I would enter the year before, because the competition rules state that pickles are to be entered in pint jars.  Who in the heck puts up pickles in pint jars?  My family certainly did not.  I certainly did not.  I must have done it in August of 1980, though, so that jar of pickles would be “done working” and ready for the 1981 competition.  I didn’t really know what I was doing, apart from having a good recipe, and stumbled along, with some success, too!

My lone entry received a fourth place pink ribbon that year.  When I tell people about my Fair adventures, I always mention my early success and add that there is nothing like success to encourage a person.  That lesson applies to more in life than canning, too.  So, what did I enter the next year?  Nothing, that’s what.  I forgot to pack a jar for entry when I pickled cucumbers in 1981 and had nothing to enter in 1982.   In 1984, I started entering my Bread & Butter Pickles and for some reason stopped entering sour pickles in 1986.  That business about success encouraging a person held — the B&Bs have won six blue ribbons, including three consecutive blues in 2003, 2004, and 2005.  That meant I couldn’t enter them for two years.

This year I decided to enter a couple of lots sponsored by the M.A. Gedney Company of Chaska, Minnesota.  Gedney is a household name in these parts; they’ve been making pickles for more than 125 years.  These are the lots and their descriptions:

Best Dill Pickle recipe using fresh cucumbers and balsamic vinegar in conjunction with other vinegars (white, distilled, etc.)

Best Hot Dill Pickle recipe using fresh cucumbers with heat coming from peppers such as chipotle, jalapeno, habenero, etc. to produce a Southwestern/Texan, etc. type of flavor.

I figured I’d have a better chance of the brine flavoring the cukes in the four or five weeks before they’ll be judged if I cut the cucumbers into spears rather than leaving them whole.  So I did.  Then I soaked them in a salt and ice solution for a couple hours before draining and rinsing them. 

From there they went into hot jars and were covered with boiling brine before sealing and processing in the boiling water bath for about 10 minutes.   For the first lot above, I used the brine recipe for the family dill pickle recipe, subbing some balsamic vinegar for some of the white vinegar.   Each jar was packed with a couple slices of garlic and a small head of dill from Brother John’s garden.  Mom always put a grape leaf in the jar to keep the pickles crisp but I didn’t have any handy. 

Here are my four jars in the waterbath.

I’d make more if I had a clue as to what they’d taste like. . . I made it up as I went along.

I adapted that brine for the second lot, the hot dills.  If they win anything, maybe I’ll tell you how I made them.  If they are judged and win bupkes, I’ll spare myself the embarrassment. 

Stay tuned!