Easy Refrigerator Pickles

These are really great! We usually start muching on them before they even cool... And don't forget the onions. They're for eating, not just for flavoring. They taste as good as the pickles. We usually keep adding more onions to the brine, since we eat them faster than the pickles. Actual prep time is about 30 minutes; 4 days is time setting in the fridge waiting for flavor to develop.

• Ready In: 96 hrs 15 mins
• Yields: 7 cups, about

Ingredients

• 6  cups  thinly sliced scrubbed cucumbers
• 2  cups  thinly sliced onions, separated into slivers
• 1 1⁄2 cups distilled white vinegar
• 1  cup sugar
• 1  tablespoon salt (preferably kosher)
• 2  teaspoons mustard seeds
• 1  teaspoon celery seed
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 -3  whole  unbroken  dried hot red chili pepper, long skinny oriental type,to taste (optional)

Directions

1. Toss cucumber and onion slices together in a large bowl.
2. Combine remaining ingredients in a medium saucepan, stirring well to dissolve sugar and salt.
3. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves.
4. Pour hot vinegar mixture over cucumber mixture, add red peppers if using, and allow to cool, tossing several times.
5. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for several days, turning once or twice a day for four days.
6. Actually, the pickles are quite good after only a couple hours, but they just ain’t really pickles yet.
7. Pickles can be stored in the refrigerator for several months.
8. They will continue to get spicier the longer the hot red pepper (s) remains in the brine; remove when heat level reaches your preference.