Are you wondering what to do with the bounty from your garden? Pick a pack of pickling spices in our gourmet room to give your veggies a zesty, refreshing twist. Our pickling mixes require NO cooking or canning to make pickled vegetables. Just mix, chill, and enjoy. Here's the process in 4 easy steps. For this batch we used Grandma's Icebox Pickles mix from Pam's Pantry:

1.  Cut up the vegetables you want pickled.

You're not limited to just cucumbers. We chose a mix of cucumber slices, chunks of cauliflower, and strips of onion. All of these were grown locally at the Community Gardens at Prairie Green, a cooperative partnership between the Geneva Park District, the City of Geneva and the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. When you're done chopping, pack the vegetables into a one gallon container. We used a giant empty jar from store bought pickled vegetables.

2. Mix spices, sugar and vinegar.

In a pitcher, stir sugar and vinegar together until dissolved. As promised, no heating is necessary!

3. Pour mixture over vegetables.

Press vegetables down so that all of them are covered by liquid. Seal the container and refrigerate for 24 hours. After 1 to 3 hours, the pickled vegetables will settle, leaving more space in the container. If desired, you can add more veggies at this time.

4.  Impress everyone you know with your soon-to-be-famous pickled vegetables

Your newly pickled vegetables are perfect for setting out as a relish or a snack. They're also great on salads. They'll keep in your refigerator for 6 months, and once the pickled vegetables have been devoured, you can reuse the liquid for a second batch.

Other simple ideas for summer bounty:

Everyone wants to be healthier, and there's no better way than having a higher percentage of fruits and vegetables in our diet. Instead of dipping a chip, why not substitute sliced cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, and radishes? Our wine and gourmet rooms are filled with tasty and easy dip mixes that will complement every vegetable flavor.