I made pickles myself several times over the years, but they were nothing special. In fact, pickles from the store were better. I thought, if only I knew how he made them, I could make my own. But I was sure he would not give out his recipe since he made his living selling them. So, I never asked. Instead, I went through every recipe book in the library looking for pickles. I tried dozens of recipes, but never came close to the old man's formula.
Several years passed with me buying pickles from the old guy until one Saturday, he was not there. Nor was he there the next Saturday. So, after several weeks, I went to the Swap Meet Office and asked what happened to the pickle man. As I feared, he had died.
So, I accepted the fact that I would never taste those fabulous hot, garlic, dills again. Until, one morning, as I was reading the Sunday paper, I spotted a small article on "The Pickle Man Passes Away". The old man's daughter provided her father's life story and to keep his memory alive, she included his best pickle recipes. She felt that he would want his pickles to continue being enjoyed.
When I read the recipe for the hot, garlic dill pickles, I was not sure it was the real thing. It was too simple. There had to be some exotic, secret ingredient. But there it was...with no secret ingredient.
Of course, I made the pickles that same day and they were perfect. They were the old man's pickles!
Since they were so simple, I wondered why my efforts over the years were never as good as his. After much thought, I concluded that the secret is not only the ingredients, it is also the procedure.
Click here for the recipe: http://www.creativehomemaking.com/recipes/garlic-dill-pickles.shtml
