In a pickle…….

The smell of dill puts me in a happy mood. It’s the smell of childhood in my grandmother’s kitchen, the smell of learning how to make grape leaves with my husband’s Armenian grandmother, and the smell of my great grandmother’s garden as you walked up the path to her house.

My grandmother would pickle all kinds of things. She made a terrific bread and butter pickle as well as a vegetable medley with cauliflower and carrots. Her canning foods were often served at Thanksgiving or as a relish side dish at family gatherings. Our daughter LOVES pickles and was looking forward to tasting my creations. It passed the muster with her…….I was dill-lighted!

I successfully canned 40 lbs. of pickling cucumbers. I made the brine and then after cleaning the cucumbers added them to the crock. Here is a link to the recipe I used. Though the recipe calls for red wine vinegar, I used white vinegar and had great results. As the pickles sit in the crock you will notice a white “scum” that floats on the top. It actually looks like mold but it is yeast. This should be skimmed off the top of the brine every couple of days.

The canning and preserving process goes back thousands of years (2400 BC). They are mentioned in Shakespeare (The Tempest) and even Cleopatra was known to use them as one of her beauty secrets. In our household, they are gobbled up year round topping burgers, served as sides and sometimes added to salads. They are a house staple.

A number of years ago my mother gave me a crock for Christmas. She purchased it in southern Ohio and it is just beautiful. Washing it, preparing the brine and filing it with the pickling cucumbers is fun work. I love making things from scratch and then enjoying the fruits (vegetables) of my labors.

I experimented this year, at my daughter’s request, of making a pickle that is also sweet and savory. I sliced haberno peppers and added them to a basic bread and butter canning recipe. My fingers burned for a couple of days after cutting the hot peppers….the burn was real! I would highly recommend wearing rubber gloves and keeping your hands away from your face and eyes if you decide to tackle this challenge! The results were quite tasty and won her approval. “Mom, these taste awesome!”

As the days begin to feel crispier and shorter, it is so nice to know that the pantry is filled with summer time. I will continue to enjoy creating, baking, and of course feasting on theses dill-icous treats!

I crocheted mason lid covers and added a simple edging to the pattern. See link for pattern.

A small crochet flower is added to the middle of the cover. Click here for the link. A small felted ball is hot glued to the middle of the flower. Add a personalized gift tag and you’ll have a “heartfelt” and “dill -ightful” hostess gift that is sure to be appreciated.

For more of my products visit my Etsy Store

Daisydaysdesign.etsy.com

Follow me on Instagram #susan_weycker

Dilly Facts about Pickles…..who knew???

*The average person eats 9 lbs of pickles annually.

*Pickle Juice is known to cure a hangover.

*Pickling is thought to be started by the Mesopotamians in 2400 BC.

*Amerigo Vespuci, the namesake of how America was named, was a pickle peddlar from Spain and accompanied Christopher Columbus on his voyage to America. He knew the benefits of pickles and warding off scurvy and it is thought that Columbus stopped in Haiti to grow more cucumbers for his trip to the New World.

*John Mason, the inventor of the Mason Jar we still use today, invented the jar because he needed a thicker glass to withstand the high temperatures that are required to sterilize the jar during the pickling process.

*The phrase “in a pickle” was originally coined by Shakespeare in his play The Tempest. “How cameth though in this pickle?”

*Kosher dills were brought to New York City by the immigrant Jews in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. These delicacies added flavor to the rather bland diets consisting mainly of bread and potatoes from their mother countries (Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Russia).

*Football players and athletes will sometimes drink pickle juice to relieve leg cramps. A famous story is cited from the Philadelphia Eagles vs. the Dallas Cowboys. The Eagles credit their win over the Dallas Cowboys to their consumption of pickle juice, which they believe, helped with their endurance during the game. A Brighmam Young University study backed this claim.

Some Dilly Pickle Riddles