Adapted from Ideals Family Cookbook · Mrs. C. E. Matthews
Sweet Dill Pickles
Ingredients
- 1 quart dill pickle chips, drained
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ cup tarragon vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp celery seed
- 1 tsp mustard seed (optional)
Directions
- Rinse the dill pickle chips and drain well.
- In a saucepan, combine the sugar, chosen vinegar, celery seed and optional mustard seed. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar.
- Remove from heat and let the syrup cool for 10 minutes.
- Pack the pickle chips into clean jars and pour the syrup over them. Close the jars.
- Modern refrigerator adaptation: Refrigerate the jars and let the pickles develop their flavor for about one week before serving. Keep refrigerated; do not store at room temperature on the basis of the original “seal jars” instruction alone.
Original cookbook recipe
“Sweet Dill Pickles,” contributed by Mrs. C. E. Matthews to the Ideals Family Cookbook. The original calls for one quart dill pickle chips, two cups sugar, half a cup tarragon or apple cider vinegar, one teaspoon celery seed and optionally one teaspoon mustard seed. Rinse and drain the chips, bring the remaining ingredients to a boil, cool ten minutes, pack the pickles in jars, cover with syrup, seal jars, and let set about a week.
Ingredient explanations
Tarragon vinegar is vinegar flavored with tarragon herb; apple cider vinegar is the alternative listed by the contributor. This recipe starts with already pickled dill cucumber chips, rather than raw cucumbers. The one-week rest allows the sweet, seasoned syrup to flavor them.
Storage and canning note
The original provides no validated heat-processing time or method for shelf-stable jars. For the adapted recipe, close the jars, chill and let the pickles rest in the refrigerator for the specified week. Do not assume a hot syrup poured onto precooked or already pickled chips creates a shelf-stable sealed jar.