Hop on board the Pickle Craze sweeping across America.

You can try them your way.

Yup! It’s official! It’s a pickle frenzy! Pickle potato chips. Pickle flavored beer. Pickles on pizza. Fried pickles. Pickle ice cream. Dill Pickle Slim Jims.  Pickled water melon rind. Trader Joe’s Perfectly Pickled Pups corn dogs. There’s even pickle ball!

What’s going on with the pickles already?

The seriousness of the pickle craze really hit home when I opened the refrigerator at my friend John’s house and saw at least 5 jars of homemade pickles! Pickled cucumbers, pickled tomatoes, pickled peppers, pickled onions, pickled squash.

Why, I asked John, have you been so busy pickling? He said:

Here are John’s pickled tomatoes and cucumbers:

John’s delicious refrigerated pickles.

I’ve got to say I love these pickles. I generally think I don’t like pickles. The traditional NY Dill is ubiquitous and oooo! they are way too sour for me. And too big.

John’s pickles are refrigerated, not brined or fermented. They are a little fresher, crunchier, sweeter. The pickling is lighter. I can taste the underlying food as well as the complexity of the pickling brine, which is generally a combination of vinegar, sugar and spices.

Here’s John on how to make pickles:

So how do you make a refrigerator pickle? It’s so easy!

Basically you need vinegar, water and sugar. The standard ratio is:

• 3 parts vinegar

• 2 parts water

• 1 part sugar

Salt and spices are up to you. I like the ease of pickling spice (available in any grocery store spice section) combined with a some red pepper flakes (because I’m a spicy gal!).

Next:

• Boil everything but the vegetables together - that’s to meld the flavors.

• Pour over your chosen vegetables

• Refrigerate for 24 hours

• Enjoy!!

As John said, specific recipes are everywhere. And if you just want some ideas right this very minute, without plucking through Google, here are a whole bunch of easy recipes from the Kitchn website.

And if you want some really cool jars to put those pickles in, take a look at these:

pickling jars that lift those pickles right out of the jar.

They have a pickle-lifter right inside the jar, kind of like a pickle elevator. They are available at Food 52.

Before you go, here are the answers to the questions you surely have about pickles.

1. Where do pickles come from? There’s evidence that cucumbers were pickled in the Tigris Valley in 2030 B.C. The cucumber seeds came from India. Two thousand years later, in 50 B.C., Cleopatra credited pickles for her health and beauty. Flash forward about another two thousand years, Christopher Columbus brought them on his voyage across the Atlantic. Dutch farmers started growing cucumbers in Brooklyn in the 17th century.. Then, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, surges of Eastern European Jewish immigrants brought kosher dill pickles to New York City.

2. Are pickles good for you? Well, they are tasty and low calorie for sure. They may also help with hydration. In what came to be known as the “Pickle Juice Game” in 2000, the Philadelphia Eagles famously drank pickle juice to stay hydrated and reduce muscle cramps on a day when the on-field temperature was 130 degrees. They won the game and credited the pickle juice. A 2008 study at Brigham Young University showed that pickle juice reduces heat cramps 45% faster than no fluids and 37% faster than water.

3. What can I actually do with pickles? Well, of course add them to burgers. And then get creative. They add texture, crunch and a hint of sweetness to fatty foods; they cut rich foods (like clam chowder) with their acidity and they are a fun way to get kids to eat vegetables.

If you have a pickle recipe, idea, thought or complaint to share, bring it on!