Pickles? Pickles?! PICKLES!

Local Edibles

cucumbers, garlic, dill

(additional ingredients: vinegar, sea salt, pickling spice, alum)

What I did: for the first time in my LIFE I made pickles!  Oh, happy day!  Seriously though, I think I have been intimidated my entire life because my mother makes a damn fine pickle, and I was worried I would fail miserably or pale in comparison.  But I didn't.  In fact: I succeeded! (I know this because one of my cans didn't seal, so they became refrigerated pickles...which meant I got to TASTE one a few days ago.  And they were delicious!)  The process was easy: I bought a few pounds of cukes from the community garden on campus, dill and garlic from the local farmer's market, rounded up my canning supplies, read about 1,802 articles on pickling and canning (recommended: the tried and true Joy of Canning), and hunkered down one night to make them.  Here were the results:

I must say: I found some DELICIOUS garlic at the farmer's market...check out those cloves!  Incredible.

I had a crazy dill bouquet that I cut up for my cukes; I'm sad to report that I only had a few tiny little pieces left after stuffing my quart jars.  It appears I'm going to have to get more dill for my next pickling adventure... (I'm looking at you, dilly beans!)

I stuffed my jars as best I could, but I have to say...as a first timer...I could've done a better job at compacting my cukes.  Oh well, you live and you learn!  As a totally random side note: check out that AWESOME green color.  I wish pickles would stay that vibrant green for the duration of the process, but that pesky vinegar just has to have its way, doesn't it?

An ariel shot.  As you can see, I dutifully cut off the 'blossom end' of my cucumbers.  This was a step that was repeatedly stressed in ALL pickling recipes I researched...apparently, leaving that end on in the pickling process leaves a bitter taste (and also somehow contributes to a soggy pickle).  It is highly recommended that these be removed before canning, so I happily obliged.

Into the canner they go!  OH, oh hot.  How steamy!

And...viola!  The finished product.



The Verdict

All in all, I have to say my first pickling experience was a pleasant one.  And YES, I realize I didn't go into detail with this post pontificating on all the how-what-and-whys of pickling and canning, but there is SO MUCH information out there on the subject matter...I felt like I didn't need to throw my hat in the ring.  I used my mama's pickling recipe (+ an addition of pickling spice from the co-op), so, really--it wouldn't be that exciting for all you readers out there to hear about.  What IS exciting, however?  EATING PICKLES WHENEVER I WANT!


Taste: TBD

Appearance: 7

Creativity: 0

Improvements for next time: hard to tell.  I'll let you know once I taste a pickle from one of my canned jars...in about a month or so!