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By Alexandra Pettit AZFB Communications Intern

Pickles have always been a fan favorite, even as early as 2030 B.C.E. Next time you eat a pickle think of these fun facts!

• Pickles have been around since ancient times, although there is some disagreement as to when exactly in history people started eating them. Some believe the first pickle was created in Mesopotamia in 2400 B.C.E. Others believe it was as early as 2030 B.C.E.
• Cleopatra ate pickles because she believed they were one of the things that helped her stay beautiful.
• In early times, people believed that pickles were essential to good health and helped to maintain the right balance of acid in the body.
• Explorers like Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci used pickles to help prevent scurvy amongst the crews of their ships.
• The U.S. government commandeered 40% of all pickles made in the U.S. during WWII so that they could be used in rations for the soldiers.
• Americans love pickles so much, more than half of the cucumbers grown in the U.S. each year become pickles.
• Americans love dill pickles twice as much as their sweet counterparts and an average American eats more than 8 pounds of pickles a year.
• Although most people consider pickles a vegetable because they are made from cucumbers, the U.S. Supreme Court has rules that they are technically a fruit, similar to tomatoes.
• A town in Michigan that claims to be the Christmas Pickle Capital of the World holds an annual pickle parade led by the Grand Dillmeister.
• Kool-Aid pickles are made by soaking dill pickles in strong Kool-Aid and are very popular in parts of Mississippi.

Make your own pickles at home with these fun recipes!

Kool aid pickles :

Ingredients:

• 32 oz. jar dill pickles sliced
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 1 packet Kool Aid mix, flavor of your choice

Directions:

1. Pour an inch of pickle brine out of jar.
2. Add in Kool aid and sugar to pickle jar.
3. Close the jar tightly and shake vigorously until sugar and Kool Aid dissolves completely.
4. Place in the refrigerator for 5-7 days shaking once a day.

Lime pickles:

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of cucumbers sliced
• 2 cups lime
• 2 gallons water
• 2 quarts vinegar
• 1 tablespoon whole cloves
• 4 ½ pounds sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons celery seed
• 1 tablespoon mixed pickling spice

Directions

1. Cover cucumbers with lime and water: let stand 24 hours .
2. Rinse and let stand in cold water 3 hours. Drain well.
3. Pour boiling water over cucumbers and let stand over night.
4. Then mix remaining ingredients and boil for 5 minutes.
5. Pour over cucumbers that have been packed in jars and process for 5 minutes.