Picky About Pickles

I enjoy pickles as much as the next person, but I have a strong opinion about them.  I will eat most pickles, including the sad, yellow ones you get at some lower-class sandwich joints, but what constitutes a very good pickle is, in my mind, very specific.  By the way, I know that anything that is pickled technically constitutes a pickle, but I'm just talking about cucumber pickles.

In Michigan, my family usually bought Claussen pickles.  Their commercials make a big deal about Claussen pickles being packed and transported cold, and they're in the refrigerated section of the grocery store.  I don't know if it's the refrigeration or their brine or the exact dna of the pickles, but Claussen are way better than some other national brands, for instance, Vlasic.  I'm not saying Claussen are the best pickle, but for your basic grocery store brand pickles, they're the better ones.  If I need pickles, I will certainly use whatever is available, but ever since I moved to Denver I've been bummed that I've had to resort to buying Vlasic.  My husband is the one who usually does the grocery shopping, and for four years he's told me that there are no Claussens to be found.

Well, we both went shopping today, and as it turns out, Denver does have Claussens after all.  Right there in the refrigerated case.  Either Denver just got some Claussens in or Dan didn't look in the right place.  No biggie.  I'm just glad to have them! 

Another favorite type of pickle is the gherkin, the little sweet ones.  My grandma used to serve them every Thanksgiving, so no matter what the season, gherkins make me nostalgic.  Like dills, however, certain gherkins are better than others.  Mt. Olive sweet gherkins or regular gherkins are good.

For the record, some of my absolute non-grocery pickles come from the Spicy Pickle sandwich shop.  Their pickles are, of course, spicy.  Every sandwich comes with a spicy pickle, but sometimes I'll just buy a bunch of the pickles sans sandwich.

I've tried making my own cucumber pickles but they are just never right.  I've tried a few recipes and just haven't gotten the taste correct.  It might be that I have to find the right sort of vinegar.

Does anybody out there have a favorite pickle, or great pickle recipe?  And if you make your own cucumber pickles, what sort of vinegar do you use?  Let's talk pickles.

Happy pickle eating!