Dilled Zucchini Pickles

I promised to post this recipe yesterday but ran out of hours. I have not yet made it this year, but it's a family favorite. I remember who gave me the recipe although I don't recall her name.

In the early 1970's, my first husband and I joined an organic gardening club in the Northern Virgnia area. We'd been getting Organic Gardening magazine and were looking for land. We saw an ad in the paper about this group and joined up. Everyone in the club was older than we were by about 20 years (we were 21 and 22 at the time). We learned a lot of things from this group, although none of them were really farmers--most were suburban gardeners, and only one other couple had dreams of moving to the country.

The group's founders were an elderly married couple who remembered their childhood days growing up on farms. My recipe was from the wife; she was one good cook. When my sons were young this was about the only way I could convince them to eat zucchini, and they actually liked these pickles.

Dilled Zucchini (makes 3 quarts)
6 lbs zucchini, trimmed and sliced thin (but I also made it in chunks)
2 cups thinly sliced celery
2 large onions, chopped (2 cups)
1/3 cup salt
ice cubes
Mix zucchini, celery, onions and salt in a parg bowl or pan. Place a layer of ice cubes on top; cover; let stand for 3 hours. Strain well.

2 cups sugar
2 tbsp dill seed (I also used fresh dill)
2 cups white vinegar
6 cloves garlic, halved
Combine sugar, dill seed and vingar in a kettle; heat, stirring occasionally, to boiling. Stir in vegetables. Heat, stirring several times, just to a full rolling boil.

Ladle into hot sterilized jars. Place one or two pieces of garlic in each jar. Seal. Process using standard recommended times for pickles.