Science Rules!

I am just gonna come out and say it. I love pickles. I love them in sandwiches; I love them on burgers; I love them all by themselves. Whenever I get cucumbers in my bountiful basket, I make refrigerator pickles, but today, while searching for a snack, I noticed something curious.

The garlic in my homemade pickles has turned blue! I was frightened, so I turned to google.  Here's what I learned:

Raw garlic contains an enzyme that, if not cooked out, reacts with sulfur in the garlic and any copper in the water or pot to form copper sulfate.  Copper sulfate is blue and totally safe to eat.

Refrigerator Pickles  

• cucumbers sliced or in spears
• 2-3 cloves garlic per jar
• 1 head dill
• 2 quarts water
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1/3 cup salt
• 1/4 cup sugar

1. place garlic cloves and a few sprigs of dill in the bottom of each jar (I didn't have any fresh dill this time so I used a half teaspoon of dried dill)
2. boil water, vinegar, salt and sugar, stir and let cool
3. pack the jars with cucumbers and cover with cooled brine

The pickles are ready to eat in 3 days and will last about 3 weeks, if you don't eat them all first.