Easy Pickled Carrots

Even though I am so ready for melons and peppers and eggplant and basil and TOMATOES, I am still loving these spring carrots!  They are sweet and satisfying.  If you have made one too many salads with carrots and need something new to do with them, try making these refrigerator pickles.  They make a great snack!

--Jenna Muller

1 lb. carrots, peeled

1 1/4 cup water

1 cup cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

1/4 cup sugar

2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed

1 1/2 teaspoons fennel, dill or anise

1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt

2 bay leaves

1. Cut the carrots into sticks approximately the size of your finger.  Bring a medium sized pot of lightly salted water to a boil.

2. When the water boils, drop in the carrots for about a minute.  Pour into a colander and rinse with cold water.  Drain thoroughly.

3.  In the same pot, heat the remaining ingredients.  After it comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for two minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and add the carrot sticks.  Cool to room temperature, then put into jars and chill.  

Let them sit in the fridge for a full day before eating.  They should keep in the fridge for a month.