I make 3 batches of pickles each week using this "base" liquid.
1 quart water.
1 cup vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt.
bring to boil for 15 minutes, let cool to room temp and using a 3 quart jar stuffed with cukes, either sliced or small pickling cukes. let sit for 24 hours on the counter then refrigerate and enjoy. This is for crunchy pickles, if you want rubbery ones, add the liquid while its still hot and it will cook the cukes or other veggies.
For spices, depending on what kind of flavors I want, I typically add, fresh ginger root, garlic cloves, the juice of 1 or 2 limes or lemons, peppercorns, etc. basically whatever you like. I cant get fresh dill here so no luck making genuine dill pickles. Using the above liquid base, I've pickled hot cauliflower, onions, mushrooms, carrots pretty much anything.
When I do mushrooms, (white ball type that can be bought in the supermarkets)
I boil them for 5 minutes in the liquid, and I will add 1/2 cup red wine vinegar and 1 cup of red wine to the liquid (subtract 1/2 cup of water). fresh basil, oregano, rosemary sprigs are all good to add along with garlic, peppercorns, a chile pepper or flakes. Just remember, the mushrooms will shrink when they are boiled, I use 4 packages of the shrooms and thats about 1/2 a 3qt. containers worth. After I've poured the liquid into the container, I add a 1/2 cup of olive oil.