Blue Ribbon Dill Pickles

"A good friend gave me this recipe many years ago after I munched down nearly a quart while visiting! I threw out ALL my other dill pickle recipes because THIS ONE is the best. Several years ago, it occurred to me to enter my pickles in the County Fair. So I did. Since I'm superintendent over in the Junior Foods & Nutrition Department, I don't get to watch the Open Class judging. So later in the day (after judging in both classes was over), I went to see how my pickles (and other canned goods) fared [pun intended!]. I couldn't find my jar of pickles. They weren't on any of the shelves, neither were they in with the "disqualified" items. Hmmm. Then I spied them! Not only did they have a big blue ribbon on them, but they also received Best of Show AND the canning award! What a thrill!!! There's nothing like winning at the fair--amongst all those good cooks--to feel validated as a successful home-canner. NOTE: I did NOT list an amount for the cucumbers since I've never measured how many pounds I use--sorry! SERVING SIZE is the number of ounces in a quart jar--to facilitate nutritional information...."