First stop was the garden, where I found I had finally achieved tomato success. Anyone local want some? I will have another bowlful like the above by Tuesday. I feel some oven-roasted sauce coming on. The onions however had completely drowned in their little raised bed - all our recent rain made onion soup. I salvaged what I could:
At this morning's farmer's market I bought some lovely carrots, sweet peppers, hot peppers and beets. I boiled the beets and removed their skin, and blanched the carrots. Also used whole garlic cloves and the only 2 little jalapenos I grew.
I also received a pile of free cucs from a friend. They were big, and not exactly pickling cucs, but we'll eat them anyway.
Look at this lovely pile that went into the compost. If I was a true hippie I would have made stock from the leavings, but truth be told I'm a horrible hippie. I like air conditioning and football.
Next I created my own pickling spice based on several internet recipes. I used mustard seed, ground ginger, black pepper, whole cloves, broken cinnamon sticks, crushed bay leaves, turmeric, dill seed, whole allspice, etc. The brine and method I copied from a youtube video.
And there you have it! Now I'll put them in the frig for a few weeks and let you know the verdict. Taking photos of my cooking adventures and blogging about them has added a shit-ton of fun to my kitchen. Thanks for watching!
