Pickled Asparagus

When I was a child, we visited my grandma often.  She was an avid canner and her specialty was pickles!  And not just your regular run of the mill pickles (though she did those too and they were awesome), but she also pickled beans, a delicacy that you just can't buy in a store.  Years later, my sister Lyndsay took that one step further and pickled asparagus.  Since asparagus is so abundant where we live, it was an instant hit.  Recently, I was given a huge bucketful of asparagus from my amazing sister-in-law and so I decided to try my luck at canning and here is what turned out!

Pickled Asparagus

Source: Lyndsay

4 lbs. green or yellow beans (or asparagus)

8 cloves garlic (or more if you really like pickled garlic)

4 C. white vinegar

1 tsp. red hot pepper flakes

8-16 heads fresh dill

1/2 C. pickling or canning salt

4 C. water

Wash & snap beans (or asparagus).  In each jar, place 1-2 dill heads and 1 clove of garlic.  Place whole beans (or asparagus) upright in jars leaving 1/2" headspace.  Combine salt, vinegar, water, and pepper flakes - bring to a boil.  Add hot solution to beans leaving 1/2" headspace.  Adjust lids & process 25 minutes in a boiling water canner.

*So just a few explanations on her directions, mostly to myself, as I felt like Amelia Bedelia through the whole canning process.  First off, did you know that a clove of garlic is just one piece off the head of garlic?  After all this time, and I have claimed to love cooking so much, I am just now figuring this out.  So, I happened to buy 8 HEADS of garlic rather than just the 1-2 cloves I would have needed.  Needless to say, I am becoming acquainted with fresh garlic in my cooking and it is terrific!  Second of all, I searched the whole grocery store before the produce guy told me that they don't sell fresh dill and he had to go in the back and get me some dried dill that he says "everyone" knows you use in canning.  And third of all, I had to double the recipe for the brine to make enough to use the whole batch of asparagus.  And finally, fourth of all, you have to wait a couple of weeks to let these pickle before you eat them.  Not a happy thought when you spent all day and want to sample the fruit of your labors.  But the good news is that they keep for years and get better over time... so enjoy!