Refrigerated Pickled Green Beans

I love to buy those little french green beans at Costco.
However, a 2lb bag is quite a bit for two people to eat as they go bad so quickly.
I mean really, how many beans can two people eat?
Sometimes I throw half of them in a freezer ziploc and freeze them, other times I make a batch (or even a half batch) of these pickled green beans.

These are great to snack on, garnish a Bloody Mary or give as gifts too.
They must be kept chilled, so if you give them as a gift, be sure to write that on the lid, or the tag, so people don't forget.

Even if you have never canned anything before this is an easy way to start.  I do think that you could can these, but I wanted to keep the beans fresh and crunchy and I was concerned that cooking in a water bath canning kettle would cook the beans too much.

FYI- I made these once with all vinegar and no wine because I really like tangy, however it was too much, too strong, and it caused an acidic chemical reaction in the garlic turning it BLUE!!! Live and learn, just use the wine! Want to read more, find an explanation here.

Makes about 8 jars (I used 12oz tall jars)
Ingredients

2 lbs. of small French Green Beans

4 cups white vinegar
4 cups white wine (something cheap, I used a sauvignon blanc)

8 tsp salt

8 tsp sugar* (optional)

8 hot red peppers (or whole dried peppers or red pepper flakes)

8-16 fresh garlic cloves

4-8 tsp whole black peppercorns

4 tsp red pepper flakes

Add the beans to clean, sterilized jars. Add garlic, peppercorns, pepper flakes and dried or fresh peppers to each jar.
Over high heat, bring wine and vinegar to a boil.  Add salt and sugar and stir until dissolved.  Remove from heat and pour over beans in the jars. Add lids and screw tops.  Let cool for an hour.  Refridgerate until ready to use.  Ready to eat after 1 week.
Keeps for 2-3 months in the fridge.