Dilly Beans

When we were in Washington a few weeks ago with my in-laws, we tried Dilly Beans (pickled grean beans) and LOVED them. I would eat them until I gave myself a tummy ache, over and over again. They were so good! I was really excited when I found out that we could get a whole case of fresh green beans from Bountiful Baskets this past weekend. I asked my husband what he thought of helping me make dilly beans on Saturday (he said yes) and then called my mother-in-law to get her recipe. They were SO easy! This was the first vegetable I've ever canned (you have to pickle any veggie you can in a water bath or steam canner and I don't have a pressure canner yet.) and it was much easier and less messy than fruit. And I must say, my hubby and I make a pretty good canning team!

I put in a movie and popped the ends off the whole case of green beans while my husband drove all over town cleaning all the grocery stores out of fresh dill. Then it was just stuff everything in, pour the brine on top and process. The clean up was much nicer than fruit canning too. I didn't have to deal with sugary stickiness everywhere. We ended up with 28 quart jars of dilly beans. Aren't they pretty?

We have to let them pickle for a few weeks before we can open our first jar. We're planning on pulling a jar out for Thanksgiving. I'm so excited!