Pickled Sugar Snap Peas

This year I am trying my hand at actual gardening. I've grown tomato plants and assorted herbs in the past, but never an actual garden. Since we've moved I now have a garden of 9 4"x8" raised beds and a small green house. With the help of my Mom (who's new garden and giant green house in Oregon puts mine to crying shame) I am currently growing carrots, onions, kohlrabi, bush green beans, sugar snap peas, cucumbers, beets, swiss chard, assorted lettuces, 3 or 4 different types of squash, red and yellow bell peppers in the green house, 10 tomato plants, two hanging baskets of miniature tomatoes and a bed of assorted herbs. I've already harvested all the asparagus and radishes (which I'm going to resow). Last week my snap peas exploded and I find myself with a surplus of them. Even though the girls and I love to munch on there is only so much we can eat ourselves. I was wondering what to do with them when I remembered Deb at Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for pickled sugar snap peas. I love pickled foods but I've never tried a pickled sugar snap pea. Well let me tell you they are delicious! Like Deb I couldn't keep from trying them out the next day and although they are supposed to sit for two weeks to be fully pickled there is no way a jar of these would last two weeks in my refrigerator. Bridget especially loves them, she'll eat a small ramekin of them for a snack. This is a quick and easy refrigerator pickle recipe, absolutely any one could do it. You don't even need a jar, a glass bowl with some plastic wrap over it would do just fine.

Pickled Sugar Snap Peas from Smitten Kitchen
Adapted from The Joy of Pickling via Epicurious

1 1/4 cups white distilled vinegar
1 1/4 cups cold water
1 tablespoon kosher or pickling salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pound sugar snap peas, stems trimmed and strings removed
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 or 2 small dried chile peppers, slit lengthwise or a couple pinches dried red pepper flakes

In a nonreactive saucepan, heat the vinegar with the salt and sugar until they are dissolved. Remove from the heat, and add the cold water. (This gives you a leg up on getting the liquid to cooling the liquid.)

When the vinegar mixture is cool, pack the sugar snaps, garlic and chile peppers or flakes into a 1-quart jar or bowl, and pour the brine over it. Cover with a non-reactive cap, or, er, plastic wrap.

The original recipe suggests you store the jar in the refrigerator for two weeks before eating the pickled peas, but good luck with that. They’re quite delicious and already lightly pickled by 24 hours later.