Spicy Dill Pickles

We have been wanting to make our own dill pickles for a while now, so when we saw pickling cucumbers at the farmers' market a few weeks ago, we bought a bunch and decided to give it a go. We basically used this recipe from ehow.com, with some minor modifications, and they turned out great. We didn't actually can them, we're just keeping them in the refrigerator, but they turned out very flavorful, crisp and delicious. The only thing I would do is maybe cut down slightly on the salt, and you can adjust the chiles to however spicy you like them. These turned out just about right for me personally.

Ingredients

• 25 or so pickling cucumbers, about 4 inches (10 cm) in length
• 1 bulb of fresh garlic
• 10 or so heads of fresh dill
• 1 cup pickling salt
• 3 quarts (about 3 liters) water
• 1 quart (about 1 liter) apple cider vinegar
• 5 quart (or liter) jars with lids
• 2-3 small chili peppers like a jalapeño

Directions

1. Wash the cucumbers, and slice off a small 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) of the blossom end (opposite where the stem is/was). We soaked ours overnight in ice water as well in the fridge, to make sure they were nice and crisp, but that isn't necessary.
2. Sterilize your jars by scalding them with boiling water (especially if you are going to actually can them and leave them at room temp).
3. Pour water, vinegar, and salt into a large pot and bring to a boil.
4. While brine is heating up, peel 2 cloves of garlic per jar, and put the cloves, whole, in each jar.
5. Put two heads of dill in each jar.
6. Finely slice the chili peppers, and distribute them between jars.
7. Stuff each jar with cucumbers.
8. Once the brine comes to a boil, turn off the heat, and then ladle brine into each jar, filling them to within about 1/2 inch (1 cm) of the top of the jar.
9. Let them cool off, and then place in the refrigerator. Wait one week before opening them.