Pickled Asparagus

My cousin Kim gave me this recipe. I haven't tasted it, but Mom had a jar from Kim last year and she said it was quite tasty.

Ingredients

5 pint jars, washed and sterilized

10 pounds fresh asparagus, washed, cleaned and cut into 4-3/4" spears

2 cups white vinegar

2-1/2 cups water

2 tsp mustard seed

1 tbsp pickling spice, placed in a gauze bag

2 tbsp pickling salt

Per jar:

Dash cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp dill weed or dill seed

1/2 clove garlic

1/2 jalapeno pepper, optional

1 onion slice

Place asparagus spears in boiling water and blanch for two minutes; drain and cool.

Place dill, garlic, cayenne pepper, onion slice and jalapeño pepper into bottom of each jar. Pack asparagus spears upright into each jar.

Combine vinegar, water, mustard seed, canning salt and bag of pickling spice into saucepan and boil for 15 minutes. Remove bag of spices and discard.

Pour brine over asparagus, and seal jars.

Place jars into canner of boiling water for 10 minutes. Cool.

Cook's Notes: We made 4 quarts and 3 pints of pickles from 10 lb of asparagus. We had to triple to ingredients for the brine. All the stalks were trimmed, blanched, and frozen for use in casseroles and soups. Can't wait to try them.