Recipe (sort of): Canned Pickles

The reason that I say this is sort of a recipe is because I'm not a real cook/canner and I use the cheating version of a pickle juice concoction purchased from Festival Foods. 

So following the recipe on the back of the bag, you mix vinegar, water, and the powder mix and stir it in a big pot on the stove until the powder dissolves and the mix just comes to a boil. 

Clean and chop up your cucumbers how you want them, typically spears or slices. 

Make sure your jars are clean (dishwasher clean is preferable) and make sure you have new, unused lids. They don't seal twice! I also learned the hard way that if you tap on the rims to loosen the covers, it dents the rim and messes with the seal on the jars. So use your muscles and don't smack the jars with anything. 

Pack the jars with cucumbers, leaving roughly a half an inch of space on the top. Fill the jars with the juice concoction and seal immediately and snugly with the lids. Tip: use a Pyrex measuring glass or something equivalent to get the juice out of the pan and into the jars. This stuff stains EVERYTHING so if you try to pour it in and miss, I wish you the best of luck. 

Let the jars sit for a while and cool down. If you did your job right, you should hear the telltale "pop!" a few hours later.