Refrigerator pickles

I used up the watercress and sprouts, but I still had 3/4 of a cucumber. When you have leftover vegetables and don't feel like putting them in a salad – a cucumber, maybe some carrots, a handful of green beans, whatever – you can always make a quick batch of refrigerator pickles to turn them into a tasty snack.
I made a big batch not long ago based on Smitten Kitchen's recipe, but this time I just wung it. (Wung is the past tense of wing, right?)

You just want a 1:1 ratio of water and vinegar, which you bring to a boil with a pinch of sugar and some seasonings, in this case dill seed, dill leaves, red pepper flakes, some cumin seeds, a few mashed cloves of garlic and some minced shallot. And a bay leaf. Pour it over your vegetables, allow it to cool, then refrigerate for several days. A quick (not counting the days of pickling) and easy snack!