"That's what I'm after," I exclaimed whilst pointing at the basket.
"We love you!" came the reply.
I'd like to think the response was due to my shining personality. Then again, the market was closing in another hour and it may be that they didn't want to return to the farm with all those cucumbers. Nah. Let's go with the first option.
After work, I stopped at the General Store and picked up a few bags of ice and dumped it into a cooler with the cucumbers. They sat overnight, nice and cool.
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| Cucumbers on ice |
Despite the sticky, humid day (aren't they always when you've got the stove going for hours?), I managed to put up 11 - 500ml jars of sweet dills and 13 bread and butter. There's still a few cukes left. Haven't decided whether to make relish or try drying them into some kind of a dilly cucumber chip. I'll have to think on it.
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| 2011 bread and butter pickles - check! |
10 comments:
yum! The bought ones just don't taste right! I am thinking about growing my own this summer as its hard to even buy raw ones for pickling. My mum grew them a few years ago and had to wait weeks to have enough to pickle :) But we would never use 24 jars of pickle anyway! I only need a few jars....thanks for the recipes too.
I am in continuing awe of your culinary skills. I managed to make 4 jars of jam with our own blackcurrants recently, and was so overcome with a sense of achievement I bored the pants off everybody.
They look really good. I've never gone as far as pickling my own, the shops have so many choices to pick from I don't dare!
Oh, I love pickles - haven't actually canned any of my own yet though. For the last two years, all my cucumbers (and squash) in the garden didn't amount to a ...well... hill of beans, so no pickles for me :(
And is that maslin pan the one from Lee Valley? I've been eying that, and the juicer-thingy.
All those jars are making me drool. I haven't had homemade pickles in years. When we were kids my mother would drag us to a u-pick for cucumbers but the dill pickles were well worth it.
Liz - homemade pickles are the best! I've grown them before but don't get enough to make it worth heating up the canner. Buying them at the market is the way to go for us.
Sharon - you wouldn't have bored me a bit. What a feeling it must be to have made the jam with your own fruit!
Mara - something tells me the choices are a lot greater in Europe for good homemade food from small shops so I don't blame you.
K - I don't have much luck with cukes either. I had been eyeing the maslin pan from Lee Valley for the longest time and then, when I went to buy it, it was no longer available. My brother-in-law went to England to visit family so I begged him to pick one up for me. He did, mailed it to me and then they were available again at Lee Valley. My friend has the one from Lee Valley - it's a beautiful thing.
Marguerite - Mum used to make icicle pickles. Oh, they were the best. They also take days to make so it's not gonna happen here. ;-)
Look at you go!! I have picked out of my garden enough cukes for one jar of dill pickles!!
I have had my maslin pan (which I purchased from Lee Valley) for five years now. Mine is cracking --just like its owner! I am like you that way Liz, in love with my maslin pan!!
I have a real good sweet relish recipe if you like. Taste way superior than store bought relish!
Cheryl - no comment on the fact that you're cracked. ;-)
Is there a link to the relish recipe? If not I'll send you an email. I've got the one in the Bernardin book all dialed up for the leftover cukes.
I don't store things for winter; I just can't find the time, and besides, I wasn't trained, even though my parents still do it. However, it's so fascinating for me to see the results.
Hi Olga - my Mum did a bit of canning but I wasn't interested back then. Fortunately my neighbour took me under her wing and showed me the ropes. You can't beat the feeling, opening up a jar of applesauce in February that you canned.
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