Dilly Beans

Dilly Beans are probably our all time favorite summer snack!  It started out as an accident.  I ran out of cucumbers for making sun pickles and threw in some green beans.  The girls LOVED them and we've been making dilly beans ever since.

Grab a bag full of fresh green beans at your local farmer's market or CSA and get started.  If you have a little helper like this, even better:

 Snap the tops off of your fresh beans and wash them.  In a large sun tea glass jar, layer:

green beans
3-4 large sprigs of dill
5-6 cloves of garlic
more green beans to fill the jar

In a pitcher, stir together:

2 cups vinegar
1/4 cup pickling salt
enough water to fill the pitcher

Stir until the salt is dissolved and pour over beans.  Add enough water to cover the beans and fill the jar.  (After the lid is on tightly I shake the jar a bit just to be sure the vinegar/ salt solution is well mixed with any water I added.)  Place outside in the sun and wait 2 days.  After this point I leave them outside for a few more days, just because the kids love snacking on them while they play.  Any leftovers can be refrigerated for longer storage.

Enjoy!  If you make these, let us know how it goes.  :)