No, not me, you sillies. I shan't be pickling myself for several more months, as that would also have the unfortunate effect of pickling the burgeoning Life Within. I gather my doctor would not approve.
But in the meantime, I've been making up for it by pickling everything else I can manage. This seems to be the Summer of the Pickle. Now, I love pickles (and yes, I always have--first person to make a pregnant woman/pickle joke gets a virtual pickle up the nose), but have never felt particularly inspired to do much more than make some refrigerator dills with the few cucumbers we have. Then, this year we had a lot of beets. Beets can be pickled and canned. Pickle number one.
Then we had a rather ridiculous quantity of cucumbers this year. After making my beloved refrigerator pickles, and seeing very little dent in the frightening bins of cucumbers, I started brining the cucumbers and canning the resulting pickles. I think they will probably be less crisp and fresh-tasting than the refrigerator ones, but still good. I have seven quarts so far. Pickle number two.
Next, I applied my mania to cabbage. I made sauerkraut. Except I don't think sauerkraut technically counts as a pickle, because there is no vinegar in it. I KNOW. I would totally have bet money that vinegar is used to make sauerkraut. I would have lost that money, because sauerkraut is nothing more than salted cabbage. The cabbage releases enough water to create its own brining liquid. It ferments, and smells pickled, but I don't know if sauerkraut is really considered a pickle. But since I'm counting my pickles here, and it would be lame to only have two, I'm counting it. Therefore, pickle number three.
Pickle number four will be pickled jalapenos. Once I get out there and actually pick the jalapenos. And possibly replenish my stock of vinegar, which has been going alarmingly fast this summer.
I think that's more than enough about pickles, don't you? Right. Goodbye.
13 comments:
I've been pickling like crazy this year as well, beets are at the top of my list. I so love them. I also make a few varities of pickles from an old cookbook I got, some of them take a few weeks, the one I'm doing now takes a month. I made sauerkraut as well, I think it counts as a pickle, it's listed in my "the Joy of Pickling" cookbook.
I also made sauerkraut... and yes I consider it a pickle. My cucumbers failed, so I made lots of pickled dill green and yellow beans. Also made zucchini relish, beet and cabbage relish, zucchini bread and butter pickles... now busy making pickled beets. Bonnie
Everything I could have pickled died. I'm so jealous.
I wanted to pickle okra this year, but sadly my okra plants were pathetic looking and only produced about 10 okras. Not much you can do with that... Better luck next year...
Pickled jalapenos - yum! One of my favorites, and they keep in the fridge FOREVER.
Have you tried bread and butter pickles? For some reason the really big cukes that would otherwise have a less-than-desirable texture make great bread and butter pickles.
YUM to all of it! Especially the beets!
These all sound delicious! I am really going to have to get on the canning bandwagon next summer!
For a suburban girl gone country, you know an awful lot about PICKLING! How does that happen? Just reading cook books or does MiL help you? Inquiring minds want to know.
Great. Now I want some sauerkraut. And I had no idea it was made without vinegar.
Pat: Books. I learned everything from books. Even how to butcher a deer.
Wouldn't it be nice if I were kidding about that? I'm not.
Instead of making dill pickles and worrying about crispiness....I made dill pickle relish.
Harvard Beets were always my favorite at the homestead! Lance
I've never pickled anything. I suppose I ought to learn, now that I'm getting serious about gardening for food!
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