For one pound of kirby cucumbers: 1 cup water, 1 cup cider vinegar, 1/4 cup white granulated sugar (less if tartness is desired), 1 bay leaf, 1 tbsp black peppercorns, 3 garlic cloves, and a pinch of kosher salt. Boil everything in a sauce pan for 5 minutes, add cucumbers to a heatproof bowl, pour over hot pickling liquid, allow to come to room temperature on the counter, and store in fridge for 1 hour, best after 24. Also, if you can cut the cucumbers into spears, or quarter them length wise, rub them with some kosher salt, let them sit in a colander for 15 minutes, and finally rinse them off under cold tap water, it will make them much better in the end. If you have mustard, cumin, or coriander seeds, toast them by the teaspoon, and add them to the brine before boiling it.
Do you like sweet, or spicy, or sour? In general, for two cups of cucumbers or veggies, use 1/2 cup cider vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 1 tsp. dry mustard. From there, go where your fancy takes you; I like to add 3/4 cups sugar, a half-teaspoon of turmeric and a goodly pinch of white pepper. Bring that to a boil and pour over the veggies; let cool to room temp, then refrigerate. You could leave out the sugar and turmeric and go in most any direction that intrigued you -- dill, salt and garlic; peppercorns and cardamon; cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg with sugar; and on and on.
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