A Pickle A Day.....

Every good wannabe homesteader ought to know how to make Pickles-right?? 

I’d never made pickles before but as the cucumbers kept coming in like crazy, I realized pretty quick that I needed to learn pretty fast.

On a side note, We sure had some funny texts going with some friends over some of their shapes!!! 😳😉🤔 hehehehhehe .....Caption this?!?

I honestly wasn’t even sure what kind of pickles our family liked- there are sooo many recipes out there. Sweet, dill, refrigerator, etc. 

So, I ended up making 6 different kinds ranging from Bobby Flay's favorite, to the well reviewed Food Network one, to even an old hand written Lime Pickle recipe that BreAnne Bearden brought me from her grandmother that took 30 hours to make! 😳 

I think my favorite thing about the whole process was the super cool containers I found online to put them in.

Check these beauties out from La Parfait.

It’s like how you can have an average looking guy but give him a foreign accent and WOW!! He suddenly becomes HOT!! Hahahah

I figured if my pickles just tasted average, these cool jars would elevate them into Super Pickle status!!! Packaging and Presentation is everything-right?!?

Brent about killed me when he found out they cost over $7 a jar!!! https://www.leparfait.com/le-parfait-products

They can be ordered on Amazon.

I also came to realize that my bro in law- Robby Compton AKA Mattress Man- loves Pickles!!

He became my number 1 taste tester. and Phoebe was my 2nd best taste tester.

 He would tell me which ones were best on hamburgers and which ones were best to eat by themselves as a snack. Phoebe would pretty much just suck the juice off them!!

So here goes. For the Top 4 ones in no specific order....

#1 Old Fashioned Lime Pickles- super sweet. Great with hamburgers. This took FOREVER to make, but you know it has to be good if it's handwritten....

#2 Food & Wine Bobby Flay Recipe- good for just having on the side of a plate with a sandwich ( pretend you are McCallisters)  We did think this one was a tiny bit bland though. 

https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/dill-pickles

#3 Food network- not as super sweet as the Old Fashioned Lime Pickles but good. I cut these into slices rather than doing the spears.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/quick-sweet-and-sour-pickle-spears-3353715

#4 My concoction- I combined a recipe I got from Kelly Clark who I think she got this from Taylor Bennett and one off Pinterest. I’m calling Compton Farms Sweet Dill!! The best of both worlds!! Can you see the peppercorns floating in there?

Here is the recipe:

Soak pickles in water with epson salt (about 2-4 tablespoons)  in fridge covered for 1-2 hours

Rinse throughly

On stove, combine

1 cup Vinegar

2 cups sugar 

20 whole peppercorns

2 cloves of garlic chopped

1 teaspoon of mustard seed

1 teaspoon of dill seed

1 pinch of dry dill weed 

Heat up until sugar is melted. 

Then Let cool to room temp!! This is very important. Look at how nasty these look!!!  I screwed up and poured the mixture hot over the cucumbers!!! GROSS

So here are some fresh ones soaking in the water and epson salt. 

Some of the supplies

Chopped up fresh garlic

I used this 5 pepper blend of peppercorns from Williams Sonoma.

The mix on the stove.

Slice cucumbers and put into jar with a fresh sprig of dill. Pour room temp liquid mixture over cucumbers.  Then seal it up in refrigerator for 24-48 hours. Enjoy!! 

Love

Lissy

PS. Mark you calendars- we will be at the Monroe Farmers Market on Tower Drive on Sat July 21st from 8am-1pm with our watermelon, cantaloupe and maybe even some of these special pickles!!! Along with our Mr P's Watermelon Chicken tees in adult and youth sizes. Allyson shown below in an adult Small v-neck.