Many people will tell you that dill pickle recipes are a dime a dozen. Just ask anyone who’s purchased a quart of pickles — sometimes at a cost of up to $10 a jar — at a bazaar or food festival, only to discover they’re no better than the ones they can buy at the supermarkets.

I’ve canned my share of dill pickles over the years, using recipes that were handed down to me from Mom and Grandma, as well as ones that have been given to me by friends and readers of my old newspaper column.

About the best recipe, though — but tinkered with it a bit — is one that was given to me by Cindy Healy of Grand Forks. It’s been a favorite of ours for about a dozen years. Each summer we can anywhere from 40 to 70 quarts of the pickles. This year will be no exception. We’ve already put up 23 quarts and are just getting started.

The canning process has gone smoother than ever this year, since for the first time, I’ve put up fencing for the cucumber vines to climb onto, ensuring cleaner cukes that require very little washing and scrubbing.

You can’t put a price on that!

Turmeric Dills
80 small to medium-sized cucumbers
4 cup apple cider vinegar (5 percent acidity)
8 cups water
8 tablespoons canning/pickling salt
8 cloves garlic
8 tablespoons sugar
8 grape leaves
Mustard seed
Turmeric powder
Wash cucumbers and rinse well. Wash dill and grape leaves.
Put dill and grape leaves in bottom of quart jars with garlic clove. Pack jars with cucumbers. Add ¾ to 1 teaspoon mustard seed and ½ teaspoon turmeric powder to each quart.
Cover with boiling liquid (vinegar, water, salt and sugar solution), leaving ¼-inch head-space.
Put on preboiled lids and bands (make sure rims are clean) and tighten. Put jars in water bath (just so covered). Process for 20 minutes.
Yield: 8 quarts.