Suspect that these are a fermented pickle and you would use a salt brine to 'cure' them. Usually cukes done this way will remain a bright green as opposed to a lightening of skin color when in a vinegar based brine. Recently, I have posted many tips and suggestions on making a salt brine type of pickle. You do start with very fresh pickling cukes as well as fresh dill weed and dill seed heads. Not sure if yours were made at other times of year, besides the growing season of summer. Mine are half sours and are soaked in a salt brine/water for only about 2-3 days, depending on the cuke size. Because I like using fresh dill, they only get made in summer time. Linda Lou's recipe also has merits, as there, you also start with a salt brine cure prior to pickling. Its that first step that helps them to retain their bright color. Everyone may follow a recipe to the letter and realize that the taste might not be their preference, so start with small batches and adjust whatever you feel that was overpowering in the previous batch. Trial and error helps here. Once you get your taste preference met, then you write down the recipe. My mom used to make sweet picilili with green tomatoes, and her recipe was also composed of several recipes from different books, as well as her personal experience. Adding food colorng might be OK, but that would probably be better to add to a finely chopped cuke relish to improve appearance.

I had never heard of using cherry leaves. Grape leaves? Yes, but not cherry. But I did find this one recipe: Cherry Dills Here in Washington State, turn of the century there were not a lot of grape vineyards. Most of the crisp recipes call for placing a grape leaf in the jar to add crispness to the pickles. My grandmother improvised and found that the leaves from her cherry tree worked just as well, if not better. Makes a wonderful, crunchy pickle. Select medium-sized pickling cucumbers. Put layer of dill in bottom of medium crock, then a layer of cucumbers, then a layer of cherry leaves. Keep alternating to the top of the crock. On the very top, put leaves and dill. Over all, pour brine made with 1 cup salt in 6 qts. water. Let stand for 2 weeks. After this brining period, wash pickles and dry. Cut into desired chunks. Make a syrup by mixing 4 c. vinegar, 8 c. sugar, and 1 oz. whole mixed spices, and bringing to a boil. Put cucumber chunks in jars and pour boiling syrup over and seal. From: Katie E Green http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~bcohen/cucumbers/recipes/pickles/dill_pickles.html I can't say whether this would be considered a safe recipe by current standards or not. Many of these old, improvised recipes are not considered so as fermenting pickles, when done incorrectly, does have associated risks. Perhaps others can comment on that. Dave

THE STRUB'S FAMILY HOMESTYLE BRINE RECIPE Utensils Needed: 12 quart pot 1qt mason jars (clean well, use new lids) 1qt measuring cup and measuring spoons Ingredients Needed: Salt, Garlic, Dill, (Hot Banana Peppers), White Distilled Vinegar (6% acid), Fresh Pickling Cucumbers (length to diameter ratio of 3:1) Pickle Brine Add 1/4 cup of salt + 1 cup of vinegar to 1qt of water. Mix until the salt is dissolved. Packing Instructions Add 4 cloves of peeled or chopped garlic to each jar Add 1 T chopped dill weed, plus 1 T dill seeds Add 1/4 cup sliced Hot Banana Peppers (optional) Pack cucumbers tightly into the jar. (whole or sliced) Add brine mixture to jars and fill to 1/4 inch from the rim of the jar. Close cap tightly and place jars upright into the pot. (Do not stack jars). Fill pot with tap water to cover bottles and bring to a slow boil. Continue boiling for 5 minutes then remove pot from burner. Begin adding tap water slowly so the pot overflows slowly. Adding water too quickly may crack the jars! Continue until the jars are cool enough to hold against your face. Store in a dark cool place. Your pickles will be ready to eat the next day. Tips Choose the freshest pickling cucumbers for pickle making, or better yet, grow your own. The perfect size for a pickling cucumber has a length to diameter ratio of 3:1. Two to four inch cucumbers are best for home pickling because you can maximize the number in a typical canning jar. Wash cucumbers thoroughly and check for blemishes prior to pickling. Prick the skin of each cucumber once or twice lightly with a fork to allow the flavors to penetrate the cucumbers.

I always make this one, they're from Linda Lou at Harvest. She's a Certified Master Canner so you can be sure it's safe to can. My daughter starts snitching the chunks out of the container the day after I start adding the syrup! Linda Lou's Famous Sweet Pickle Chunks Day 1 - Prepare 24 pickling cucumbers. Wash cucumbers gently, in several changes of water if necessary. Check their condition and discard any that aren't firm and fresh. (Ideally you're using cucumbers within 24 hours of picking.) You want them clean, but you don't want to break the skin. Cut 1/16 inch off blossom end (you can cut off both ends if you wish-it's quicker and easier than taking the time to check which end is which if you are doing a large batch). Do not cut up the cucumbers. Place in sterile container (bowl, food grade plastic tub, large pot, crock, etc.) and pour enough boiling water over them to cover. Weight cucumbers so they're covered. Otherwise some cucumbers derive the benefit of the soak and others don't. A heavy bowl or plate that fits the container works well. Leave cucumbers at a cool room temperature (probably not above 75 degrees F). If, at any point, you begin to notice scum forming, don't worry. Just rinse the cucumbers well and wash and rinse the container as well. If you see mold forming or the cucumbers develop a nasty smell, ditch the batch. Day 2 - Drain water off cucumbers and rinse well. Pour enough fresh boiling water over them to cover. Weight cucumbers so they're covered (rinse the bowl or plate that you're using for a weight as well). Day 3 - Drain water off cucumbers and rinse well. Pour enough fresh boiling water over them to cover. Weight cucumbers so they're covered (rinse the bowl or plate that you're using for a weight as well). Day 4 - Drain water off cucumbers and rinse well. Pour enough fresh boiling water over them to cover. Weight cucumbers so they're covered (rinse the bowl or plate that you're using for a weight as well). Day 5 - Drain water off cucumbers and rinse well. Cut the cucumbers into chunks (or spears). Make a syrup by combining: 8 cups sugar 4 cups cider vinegar 5% acidity 3 1/2 tsp. pickling and canning salt 2 Tbsp. pickling spices, tied in a bag. Heat syrup to boiling, stirring often to dissolve sugar. Pour over cucumber chunks and weight so they're covered. Day 6 - Drain syrup and reheat drained syrup to boiling. Pour over cucumber chunks and weight so they're covered. Day 7 - Drain syrup and reheat drained syrup to boiling. Pour over cucumber chunks and weight so they're covered. (Note: I add 1 teaspoon celery seed and 1 tablespoon mustard seed to syrup at this point, just because DH requested them. I also added an additional 1/4 cup cider vinegar, because we happen to like them a bit more "vinegary".) Day 8 - Drain syrup and reheat drained syrup to boiling. Pour over cucumber chunks and weight so they're covered. Day 9 - Prepare pint canning jars. Drain syrup, remove pickling spice bag and reheat to boiling. Pack chunks into jars and cover with hot syrup, leaving 1/2" headspace. Put on 2-piece lids and process in boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes. These are amust in my house in tuna sandwiches. Annie