Ingredients:
30 to 36 cucumbers or pickling cucumbers (about 3-4 inches long)
3 cups vinegar
3 cups water
6 tablespoons salt
Fresh dill
Garlic cloves, sliced
Mustard seed
(Other spices, to your taste: cloves, peppercorns, even dried hot peppers)
Steps:
1. Wash the cucumbers, and slice them into spears.
2. Sterilize jars, lids and screw caps by boiling in a pot of water for about 5 minutes.
3. Combine the vinegar, water and salt. Bring to a boil in a nonmetal or coated metal (Teflon, enamel) pot. (Metal makes the brine cloudy.)
4. Place a generous layer of dill, half to one clove of garlic and half a tablespoon of mustard seed in the bottom of each jar.
5. When jars are half-filled with cucumbers, add another layer of dill and fill the remainder with cucumbers.
6. Fill jars to within a half-inch of their tops with the boiling brine, and screw lids on tight. (Use potholders.)
7. Process 5 minutes in a boiling-water bath in the canning tub. Allow to cool. (May take overnight.) Check that the lids have sealed by pressing their centers; the button should not pop up or down.