My wife Mary baked and decorated these very fine gingerbread people (plus dozens more) for the holidays. I canned the pickles according to my great grandmother Bryan's recipe (reproduced below). Mary tied the ribbons on the jars.

Great Grandmother Bryan's Dill Pickles

1. wash cucumbers, let sit in cold water overnight
2. pack jars with following
   • 2 heads fresh dill or 1 teaspoon seeds
   • 1 red (cayenne) pepper
   • 2 or 3 cloves garlic
   • 1/8 teaspoon alum
3. bring to boil and pour over cucumbers
   • 1 qt. vinegar
   • 3 qt. water
   • 1 cup salt
   • can add grape leaves
4. seal

Matt's Dill Pickle Notes

This recipe comes from Mrs. Hugh Bryan (Hugh Bryan's mother). I copied the recipe from a note card in her handwriting. I broke an antique Ball jar because I poured boiling pickle solution into it while the jar was cool. Warm the jars to prevent this. I read somewhere that letting the cucumbers sit in icy water overnight has a firming effect similar to using alum. I noticed that garlic cloves tend to turn blue over time. My research indicates that an enzyme in garlic cloves catalyzes an oxidation reaction with dissolved copper in tap water. However, distilled water does not remedy the blue garlic. In any case, blue garlic does NOT appear to be harmful, except aesthetically.