1. You can leave out the celery with no problem. 2. Yes, they're referring to sweet green bell peppers cut into quarters. 3. You can process in pints rather than quarts. It's always OK to size down but you can't size up. Do keep the time the same. 4. I can't give you an answer on the garlic. This is an unusually weak brine and garlic is in no way comparable to celery. You could acidify the garlic cloves by pouring boiling hot vinegar over them and soaking before adding to the jar but that's still no guarantee of safety. If you want an extra-garlicky flavor, it would be safer to use the single fresh clove and supplement with dried garlic flakes. It's up to you. Carol

my opinion is that maybe the plum tomatoes pickle better than the regular toms because they have less juice inside. Anyway I like to pickle with plum toms. I pick them slightly small and none are really big toms. but if I slice a few in half top to bottom then I can get a few extra into the jars. I also like to use more vinegar in my brines. In fact I have always used all vinegar and no water. that makes for a very sour pickle that I like and it is also more safe because the pH is always low this way. So one thing to remember. You can always use more vinegar and less water. It simply makes for a more sour pickle. I like them this way. if you do use water. the water is important. you really want very soft water. hard water can cause a problem getting the pH low.

macybaby, Thanks for the response. i got my recipe from my cousin and it is an old family recipe. however i am not just canning but i am fermenting them. i had to process them yesterday so i decided to use only firm tomatoes. i used the ripe one to make a fresh salsa. i got my recipe for an old Mexican mama. However my friend Hank told me his peppers were not hot enough. so my salsa is hot goin in and coming out. my peppers were very hot. ouch!!!! i not have four buckets of cucumbers in brine and two buckets of tomatoes in brine. this is my third year doing fermenting and i really prefer it over the cannin thing last yerar i did sauerkraut, dilly beans, peperonicni and cucumbers. my friends are not bringing me buckets and spices and stuff adn want to help me when i cold pack them. several have said "the best pickle i have ever had". well i need to go pick and other bucket of tomatoes. Dean

I made them with several different recipes but my idea of dill is "Claussen" and I couldn't even come close. They were crispy, however.