This Page

has been moved to new address

I made pickles.

Sorry for inconvenience...

Redirection provided by Blogger to WordPress Migration Service
/* Primary layout */ body { margin: 0; padding: 0; border: 0; text-align: left; color: #554; background: #692 url(http://www.blogblog.com/moto_son/outerwrap.gif) top center repeat-y; font: Trebuchet;serif } img { border: 0; display: block; } /* Wrapper */ #wrapper { margin: 0 auto; padding: 0; border: 0; width: 692px; text-align: seft; background: #fff url(http://www.blogblog.com/moto_son/innerwrap.gif) top right repeat-y; font-size:80%; } /* Header */ #blog-header { color: #ffe; background: #8b2 url(http://www.blogblog.com/moto_son/headbotborder.gif) bottom left repeat-x; margin: 0 auto; padding: 0 0 15px 0; border: 0; } #blog-header h1 { font-size: 24px; text-align: left; padding: 15px 20px 0 20px; margin: 0; background-image: url(http://www.blogblog.com/moto_son/topper.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; background-position: top left; } #blog-header p { font-size: 110%; text-align: left; padding: 3px 20px 10px 20px; margin: 0; line-height:140%; } /* Inner layout */ #content { padding: 0 20px; } #main { width: 400px; float: left; } #sidebar { width: 226px; float: right; } /* Bottom layout */ Blogroll Me! #footer { clear: left; margin: 0; padding: 0 20px; border: 0; text-align: left; border-top: 1px solid #f9f9f9; background-color: #fdfdfd; } #footer p { text-align: left; margin: 0; padding: 10px 0; font-size: x-small; background-color: transparent; color: #999; } /* Default links */ a:link, a:visited { font-weight : bold; text-decoration : none; color: #692; background: transparent; } a:hover { font-weight : bold; text-decoration : underline; color: #8b2; background: transparent; } a:active { font-weight : bold; text-decoration : none; color: #692; background: transparent; } /* Typography */ #main p, #sidebar p { line-height: 140%; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 1em; } .post-body { line-height: 140%; } h2, h3, h4, h5 { margin: 25px 0 0 0; padding: 0; } h2 { font-size: large; } h3.post-title { margin-top: 5px; font-size: medium; } ul { margin: 0 0 25px 0; } li { line-height: 160%; } #sidebar ul { padding-left: 10px; padding-top: 3px; } #sidebar ul li { list-style: disc url(http://www.blogblog.com/moto_son/diamond.gif) inside; vertical-align: top; padding: 0; margin: 0; } dl.profile-datablock { margin: 3px 0 5px 0; } dl.profile-datablock dd { line-height: 140%; } .profile-img {display:inline;} .profile-img img { float:left; margin:0 10px 5px 0; border:4px solid #8b2; } #comments { border: 0; border-top: 1px dashed #eed; margin: 10px 0 0 0; padding: 0; } #comments h3 { margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: -10px; font-weight: normal; font-style: italic; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; } #comments dl dt { font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; margin-top: 35px; padding: 1px 0 0 18px; background: transparent url(http://www.blogblog.com/moto_son/commentbug.gif) top left no-repeat; color: #998; } #comments dl dd { padding: 0; margin: 0; } .deleted-comment { font-style:italic; color:gray; } .comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

greenbanner

02 July 2009

I made pickles.

I made pickles

There's something satisfying about a kitchen project.

Instead of racing to the next place we have to be, or sitting hunched at the computer completing another assignment, or trying to figure out what to have for dinner in ten minutes, a big project forces us to slow down. Focus. Be there.

All that work can be a sweet release.

I especially like when a kitchen project produces pickles at the end of it.

cucumbers for pickling

I've always loved pickles. A few weeks ago, I waxed lyrical about why I love them. Read that, if you haven't. Today, I want to talk about the pickles themselves.

We bought these cucumbers from the older couple on the island who run a farm stand in the middle of town. Every week, they bring in fresh produce from Yakima (the other side of the mountain from here), where the sun scorches sooner than it does in western Washington. And so, pickling cucumbers sat in a cardboard box on the sidewalk in the middle of June. When I spied their bumpy lovely selves, I had to buy some.

Time to make pickles.

peppercorns, coriander, and mustard seeds

You see, I had never made pickles, at least not by myself. We made some for our family day-before-the-wedding party, but Danny really did it. I helped by pouring vinegar into the mix. And standing in awe of it, taking pictures. Without this, we wouldn't have a website.

But sometimes, it's too easy for me to defer to Danny on this, to let him do all the cooking, especially after Little Bean arrived. When it comes to big projects, he's five times as fast and he needs to do this. Working with food, inventing something new, is like breathing to him, like writing for me. But if I let him do all the cooking, I miss it: standing in the kitchen, humming under my breath, the dishwasher chugging along, music playing in the back. I miss that focused place of being, the moments beneath my hands.

So we split the cooking around here now. Imperfect as my meals can be, they make Danny happy. A couple of weeks ago, I wanted to make pickles, without him. Danny was gone for the day and the baby was in her bouncy chair in the doorway behind me, so I started toasting spices for the pickling spice.

pickling spice

You probably have your own recipe for pickling spice. Each of us has a different taste. So I'm not going to tell you that this is the only recipe you should use.

I just think that its mix of warmth and heat, slight sweetness and puckery flavors mean that it's the only recipe for this house, right now.

(I love that this jar once held our friend Nina's superb blackberry jam, then became a water glass, and then held chicken stock — chix is Danny's shortcut for chicken stock — and now holds pickling spice. I don't know what it will be next.)

cucumbers waiting in the light

Slowing down means I see more. That's probably part of the reason I like cooking, as well as taking photographs, and writing. Just after I had stuffed the cucumber slices in the jars, the sun flitted out from behind the clouds. While the light darted back and forth between flat grey and illumined, I stood there, waiting. And then I took this shot.

pickling station

Little Bean giggled when I tickled her under her chin. With a board book propped up in front of her, she was engrossed. This gave me time to survey the scene and really begin.

There was something so satisfying about being systematic here. Dill on the bottom of the jars, cucumbers stuffed in, picking spice sprinkled, more dill on top. I was building pickles.

I felt like dancing.

That light helped.

stuff in jars

I like any recipe that requires you to stuff food into jars, pell mell, without worrying if it looks pretty.

time to put the lids on

With the brine poured in, the cucumber slices looked even more green. (I always think of Kermit.) All I had to do was put the lids on loosely, slide the jars to a dark corner of the kitchen, and wait.

Oh, the waiting. It's the waiting that makes the pickles.

And yesterday, we ate the pickles for the first time. A crunch, a crisp layer, a bit of heat from the red pepper flakes, a sour fermented taste that works great in pickles (but not so much in milk). They tasted like thin slivers of the pickles I used to suck on when I was a kid at Disneyland.

Yeah.

I'm so happy I made pickles. After we've eaten these, I'm going to put up quarts of them this summer, to be able to crunch down on them all winter long.

I know, of course, that people have been making pickles for generations. But I like how so many of us are starting to learn these old traditions, of pickling, preserving, and canning.

Are you starting to grow food for yourself? Have you pickled anything for the first time? Made jam? I'd love to know what your latest kitchen project is.

and the pickles are done

Dill Pickles, adapted from David Lebovitz, who adapted them from Arthur Schwartz

Pickling is a community event, even though I was standing in the kitchen with only a baby to keep me company when I made these. Reading this question and answer with Eugenia Bone started me thinking about pickling and preserving in earnest. Visiting Food in Jars almost obsessively, looking for new ideas, compelled me to stop talking and start chopping. (And Marisa just linked to this piece on preserving cherries that has me thinking about the weekend.) Then I ordered The Joy of Pickling and Well-Preserved and The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving from the library. I could pickle and preserve all summer and still not be done.

For this pickle recipe, I studied Tea's recipe for refrigerator pickles and the beautiful narrative recipe that Margaret Roach transcribed from a railway conductor and organic gardener from Long Island. They both called to me, of course. But in the end, I went with a recipe that David Lebovitz adapted from Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited. Mostly because I trust David. And also, this recipe doesn't require vinegar. Danny grows persnickety about the way food looks. Adding vinegar can make green foods a little grey. And so, here it is, only slightly adapted. But that's what we do, right? Pass foods from one to the other.

Have a pickle.

8 pint jars with lids
4 quarts water
6 tablespoons kosher or pickling salt
8 cloves fresh spring garlic, peeled (you can also use storage garlic)
2 tablespoons pickling spice (see above)
8 fresh bay leaves (or dried if you don't have fresh)
1 large bunch fresh dill

Run the jars and lids through the dishwasher to sterilize them. Or, you can put them in a 250° oven and keep them warm until you are ready to work with them.

Slice the cucumbers into the size of pickle spears you want.

Heat 1 quart of the water with the salt. When the salt has dissolved, add the remaining water. Bring to a simmer and then turn off the heat.

Put a generous clump of dill on the bottom of each of the jars. Stuff the jars with cucumbers, tightly. (Don't stuff them so high that the tops will stick up above the brine when you are done.)

Divide the garlic cloves, pickling spices, and remaining dill into the jars.

Pour the salted water (brine) into the jars so the cucumbers are completely covered. Put the lids on loosely. (Or, you can use cheesecloth and rubber bands.) Shove the jars into a dark part of the kitchen and wait.

You can check the fermenting pickles three days after you make the pickles. Taste. Want them more sour and fermented? Wait. We liked our pickles after six days of fermenting.

Like your pickles? Screw the lids on tightly and put the pickles into the refrigerator. Eat to your delight. You should probably eat them all within the month. You will.

Yields 8 pints of dill pickles.

59 Comments:

At 11:41 AM, Blogger kamran siddiqi said...

Wow! This looks great! And it sounds soo easy. I have made pickles before, but with my father's recipe. His requires too much, but the pickles come out superb. I will definitely try this recipe and compare it to my fathers.

Thanks for sharing!

 
At 11:44 AM, Blogger kickpleat said...

Oh man, I've really got to try my hand at pickling, for reals. I've made refrigerator pickles, but I'd really like to build up the guts to try canning at home. This is a good start.

 
At 12:01 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yay, pickles. Nothing in the world satisfies when all you want is a pickle. I've never pickled before, but this certainly is inspiration to do it!!!!

 
At 12:11 PM, Blogger Swiss said...

Each time I read a blog by you I come up with another reason I am so attracted to it. Each time you talk about slowing down I slow down- even if it is just for that moment. I have made pickles and the green - green with the pour of the vinegar - the lovely shots, it brings it all back to my memories when I had time.

I am just missing the smells but the rest you recreate for me.

I had four years of doing those things when mine were small, like Little Bean. I have had time for a few in between. And now while it is still so hectic I am thinking of sharing it with my Grandaughter at least once, somehow.

So thanks again, in fact I can never thank you enough.

(I finally ran into you one day at Sea Breeze, it was too nice and regular to bring up that I was a fan; it was a meeting like I always have on the Island with fellow neighbors.)

 
At 12:46 PM, Blogger Kim - Affairs of Living said...

Thanks for such a great post! Naturally fermenting vegetables has become one of my new favorite hobbies, and I was thrilled to see your pickle project. I am anxiously awaiting cucumbers from my garden - I live in Minnesota, and we are slower to grow over here! When I finally have enough cucumbers, I plan on pickling them too, but until then, I'm fermenting other stuff as usual! I did some great kohlrabi pickles last week (recipe is on my blog)! Enjoy your pickles, as well as all that good bacteria from the lacto-fermentation process, and thanks again for sharing - I'll be trying your recipe for sure!

Kim // affairsofliving.blogspot.com

 
At 12:50 PM, Blogger Kristina Strain said...

Here's my latest kitchen project:
http://sweetfernhandmade.blogspot.com/2009/07/peach-salsa-to-die-for.html

In an attempt to find a decent dill pickles recipe this year, I've started early. I made four quarts of dill spears (the non-fermented kind) two weeks ago. If they're good, I'll make four quarts more.

Last fall I made some excellent escabeche, which I'm looking forward to trying again. I love pickling.

 
At 12:56 PM, Anonymous cupcake girl said...

yeee!! So excited! Project post finals #1.

 
At 2:25 PM, Anonymous Becks said...

How inspiring! I've been wanting to make pickles but didn't exactly know where to start, but this recipe looks fantastic! I love making my own stuff - I've got BBQ sauce simmering on the stove right now. Mmmm...

 
At 2:27 PM, Blogger Jeannine from Pittsburgh said...

Thank you for this post! You've inspired me to make some for myself. I absolutely love pickles (anything pickled, from radishes to cabbage). I just ate about half a jar of my own homemade sauerkraut waiting for the charcoal grill to get hot enough to do our Wellshire Farms hotdogs. (I'm an addict--I admit it!)

 
At 2:34 PM, Anonymous Becks said...

I made strawberry jam a few weeks ago - it was fantastic! Some of the best jam I have ever had. I also made my own salsa verde. I'm never going back to the store bought stuff for jams or salsas EVER.

 
At 2:47 PM, Anonymous La Niña said...

I'm so glad you are recycling my jam jar and it is going to be filled with pickles!

Last weekend was strawberry jam. Today it is cherry pie. Whatever needs picking needs making, eating, and/or preserving.

Aside from my "Yes We Can" labels, I have a quote I wrote pinned to the fridge corkboard. It says: "We Pick What We Can, And We Can What We Pick." That has been a motto for the past seven years.

Keep picking, canning, and grinning!
Love you!

 
At 5:55 PM, Blogger Heidi said...

We put up jam every year. My mom and I did 21 jars of current jelly today (oh so yummy with pork) and we're doing the strawberries tomorrow. When the tomatoes come we will do every last tomato we grow that isn't eaten in a variety of ways.

 
At 6:05 PM, Blogger Katya Kosiv said...

Best pickles I ever had included blackberry leaves and clove in the brine. My host mom in Russia made them and gave me a one gallon jar of pickles when I was returning to the states. I carried them in my huge handbag (this was before the fluid restrictions) through two airport stop-overs. Airport security tried to take them from me in Finland but I begged and pleaded and told them if I couldn't bring them, we would have to eat them all before I left. Those pickles were gone in one week. Eastern Europeans take pickles very seriously.

 
At 6:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Since being laid off, I've been getting into cooking projects. First it was no-knead bread, then pickled grapes from Smitten Kitchen... I'll definitely be making those again. I'm thinking about pickled green beans next and this looks like a great recipe.

 
At 6:53 PM, Anonymous heather said...

it's not pickles, but my next kitchen project starts tonight: maple baked beans.

i'm very excited! and scared.

 
At 7:49 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm a pretty avid gardener (although our weather has been so rainy and grim that all I've got thriving is weeds).

My husband has been pickling ramps, fennel and cauliflower to accompany his charcuterie platter so I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to needing to make pickles myself.

 
At 10:43 PM, Blogger anna olive said...

We eat antipasto about once a week for dinner, we call is "dipper" 'cause we dip the bread in the olive oil. Anyhoo, one of my favorite items pickled okra. I bite the end off, work the seeds out with my teeth, and then pop each one. They are like briny pop-rocks.
If I can find some at the market this year, I want to try my own. My bro, makes the best spicy pickled beans with a habanero to add the heat.

 
At 11:00 PM, Blogger David said...

you didn't just make pickles....you made a LOT of pickles! hope they last you through the summer...

 
At 11:25 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I remember when I first made jam and learned to can...it was at once awe-inspiring and a bit of a let-down. I discovered that it wasn't as difficult as I thought (the let-down) and I learned a new sense of connectedness to generations of homemakers (awe-inspiring).

Last year, I learned to make sweet pickles using a family recipe from my husband's family. They are a four-day counter top process (which I love about them) and absolutely delicious! One of the directions on the recipe is to "pick out the red pepper" from the pile of pickling spices. So sweet!

It hadn't occurred to me to look for pickling cukes yet, but I will do so this weekend. It will be a nice break from the jam (two batches of strawberry and one of aprium so far).

 
At 6:58 AM, Blogger Caroline said...

I'm part of a funky, crunchy DIY culture. One of the things we do with frequency is rescue landfill-destined food that stores and restaurants have to toss due to health regulations. Recently i was in California visiting old friends, and we hauled in an enormous bag of abandoned strawberries - when i say enormous, i mean a full garbage bag of slightly bruised fruit. What on earth to do with all those strawberries? Jam!! Well, it was up to me, since i'd rather be in the kitchen than chop firewood. I'd never done it before, but we had plenty of berries for me to screw it up three times, so i dove in. And it was a wonderful, messy, sweet, and successful experiment. I was extremely proud of myself.

 
At 7:05 AM, Blogger Caroline said...

oh, p.s. - My next project is pickling nettle leaves to have some for the winter!

 
At 8:11 AM, Blogger Anna said...

I have made pickles the last two years with my Aunt. We take long summer afternoons and scrub the cukes, stuff the jars, sprinkle and pour, and all winter have wonderful pickles to enjoy. We have also been making jam, and canning tuna fish every summer for a couple years. The pickles are a wonderful addition to tuna salad. This summer we are adding canned and frozen tomatoes to the repertoire, and hopefully beans, both green and dried. I am so inspired by the masses of people getting back to the roots of their food. So wonderful to hear of so many people being involved with their food.

 
At 8:59 AM, Anonymous Ashley said...

I love that the happiness and contentment you have in your life comes out in your writing. It is inspiring, and a joy to read.

 
At 9:20 AM, Anonymous Allison said...

We've got our second organic garden going this year and have been kickin' out the produce. Last year we bought seedlings, but this year, since our boy is older and needs less of our constant attention, we started our own seeds. My blog about the garden (and the family) is linked to my name if you'd like to see what we're growing. We made pickles last year and while I just winged it as far as a recipe, taking from here and there according to our own tastes, they ended up being somewhat similar to the ones you made. We've also canned beets both this year and last, and wow, talk about satisfying. Everything about them, from the color to the taste, which leans slightly heavier on the sugar than the vinegar and with a hint of cinnamon and clove, is so great. Our boy loves the canned beets so much that he will eat them all in one sitting if given a chance. Our cuke vine is shifting into high gear and we'll be ready to make some more pickles here soon, so I'll give your recipe a try and see how we like it. :-)

 
At 2:12 PM, Blogger Miss | A said...

HI. I love your beautiful yummy blog! I have been meaning to write and let you know I added you to my new food blog sidebar recently & enjoy going to your blog as a daily read. Just wanted to stop by and introduce myself! Have a great day.

 
At 2:46 PM, Blogger Danielle said...

This is fantastic! My kitchen project is a bunch of different cookies (& a bread!) for my momma on the occasion of her birthday. It's not super-ambitious, but I'm excited for it!

 
At 3:54 PM, Blogger Syren said...

What a beautiful post.
Yesterday I made marmalade for the first time and it set. It is a little sweeter than I like so next time will adjust the recipe. Friends who have a small citrus orchard gave us a huge bag of lovely chemical free oranges, grapefruit and lemons.
I had already squeezed a lot of lemons from our tree - putting the juice in icecube trays for later use. I am going to make an orange and almond cake next.

 
At 10:52 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I preserve fruit every year - jam, jelly, conserves and whole or halved fruit in juice or syrup. I've been doing it since I was a teenager - one of the many cool skills I learned from my hippy foster-mother and her friends. This weekend I did 66 jars! Pomegranate (from frozen juice left over from the fall), Bing Cherry, Peach, Apricot and Nectarine. I work for a fruit grower at the local farmers markets who is very generous with the end of market leftovers : )

I've never done pickles, though. Maybe this year...

 
At 6:16 AM, Blogger Just Me said...

We used up the last jar of tomato sauce from 2008's garden this week (and the bread and butter pickles) My pantry is full of green tomato chutney, pickled green tomatoes, yellow tomato sauce, pickled okra, candied watermelon rind and hot pepper jelly.
This spring I've made strawberry rhubarb jam from our garden and hope to have plenty of tomatoes to freeze for this winter. We've planted lots of cucumbers this year and I want to make pickles as long as my pregnant belly will allow.

 
At 12:43 PM, Blogger me said...

I made raspberry freezer jam for the first time this morning. So easy, and the raspberries from the market were delicious. I went with the 'no sugar necessary' pectin because I wanted to keep some tartness. The process was so fun and easy. My small son just played at my feet as I did it.

I plan to make a little plum jam shortly. That should keep us in jam for the rest of the year. Yeah for jam!

 
At 1:10 PM, Blogger Lynn said...

This has nothing to do with pickles but I am reading your book and savoring every page. On page 134 in the section-going against the grain you mention cornstarch. When I go to Puerto Rico they sometimes serve cornstarch at the breakfast buffet and it is very good. I do not know what they add to it but I enjoy it. Not as much as grits but a nice addition to my morning meal.

 
At 2:10 PM, Blogger Jennifer said...

Talk about flashback to my childhood! I remember making all sorts of pickles with my father!
GREAT job!!!! There is something about a home-cured pickle! mmm!

 
At 8:56 PM, Blogger Amy Green said...

I understand your love of big kitchen projects. I made strawberry jam a couple of weeks ago and was instantly hooked on canning...hours flew by and I was in my zone. Didn't notice at all. The sense of accomplishment was incredible as is the jam. Would love to try your pickles...they look yummy.

 
At 11:18 PM, Blogger Jennie said...

I've got to make me some pickles.

 
At 12:35 AM, Anonymous Melinda said...

I just moved to Seattle and started at the Boat Street Kitchen (via Molly Wizenberg). I have a completely different notion of and a new-found respect for pickles, as they pickle EVERYTHING. Absolutely delicious. Thanks for sharing, Shauna.

 
At 2:08 AM, Blogger Claire Berman said...

I have never made pickles, but I can't wait to try out your recipe for these now! I am, however, an avid jam maker. My mom always made jam when I was growing up - she'd buy huge bags of fruit and we'd have a "jam weekend," where she would make hundreds of jars of jam and enlist the help of all of us kids to do so. I remember standing over the stove with her, stirring the bubbling fruit as she poured cup after cup of sugar in, and watching it grow to the top of the pot and I struggled to stir to keep up with it. I actually feel kind of like a witch standing over a cauldron when I make jam. Now, I do this myself, but I like to experiment with different combinations of flavors - my favorites are black raspberry mango, strawberry cranberry, strawberry pineapple mango, and forest berry (a dark berry mixture). There's nothing like it for me - I love how, as you said, time slows down when you can your own food because you can't do anything but submit to the timeline of what you are making. I do some of my best thinking while I'm stirring jam, ladling it into the jars. I hope you continue in your canning adventures, and thank you for the recipe!

 
At 10:38 AM, Blogger Pearl said...

those pickles look incredible. i love completing a project, too :)

 
At 3:43 PM, Anonymous Margaret Roach said...

There are some foods I cannot eat without a pickle to kill (OK, maybe that's too strong a word) or at least mask the taste: Egg salad must have chopped sweet pickles or relish in it, for instance, and when I ate tuna that was another that was, "No pickles? No thanks."

When I binge-watch dvd's I bring a sleeve of crackers, a brick of lowfat cheddar and a jar of sweet gherkins (and a knife and napkin) up to my room with me, and make canapes (well, cheese and crackers with pickle slices on top).

And as you know, I make refrigerator pickles. They change in taste from week to week, which is part of the fascination: a recipe that doesn't stay put, but ages and evolves. Reading this and the post about pickle-love that preceded it makes me smile, and crave pickles. Thanks.

 
At 5:29 AM, Blogger Chef Fresco said...

We've never ventured to make our own pickles. This recipe looks great! Love all of the spices in there. Yum!

 
At 7:52 AM, Blogger Catherine A. Mulligan said...

The crunch of a pickle is a delicious bell of mindfulness! Thanks for the recipe.
Catherine
http://theflamingoroom.blogspot.com

 
At 9:18 AM, Blogger Bear and Bones Mama said...

Oh Shauna, they are beautiful! This weekend I made strawberry rubarb jam, with the rubarb from our garden. The kids eat the strawberries too fast for me to get enough for jam, but that's ok. I also took 4 kids ages 2 to 7 and picked sour cherries from our trees. Then as they played dress up kings and queens and knights and warriors, I pitted them by hand and put them up to make juice. The next day, I made 3.5 cups of that juice into sour cherry jelly. My it's good. The rest of the juice we drank, and my 2 year old went to his care provider today with a cherry juice joker smile. Awesome. My next project? I'm not sure...maybe pickles?

 
At 10:17 AM, Blogger Nazila Merati said...

I make a lot of things - the canning kettle is ready to go at a moment's notice.

Right now I have rhubarb, lemon and sugar macerating to make Ferber's rhubarb jam tonight. I have made raspberry jam with eau de vie and am planning some sort of raspberry chocolate spread later this week.

I am waiting patiently for the blackberries. I think its going to be a long wait.

You pickles are beautiful!

 
At 10:16 AM, Blogger Jeanne said...

Oooh, these look so heavenly! It's so hard to find a pickle in the stores that's just right - not to sweet and not too vinegary. I look forward to experimenting with these until, in the words of Baby Bear, I get it just right :)

 
At 3:26 PM, Blogger Julia said...

A pickle story. In our garden, we planted daikon radishes that grew, and grew, and grew. Then my son (who is 6) and I made vietnamese-style daikon and carrot pickles, in a salty-sweet brine. He loved them (mixing the brine is a fun 6-year-old thing to do; mom did the chopping.) We took a jar of pickles in to his first grade class, along with four giant daikons, which were thereupon weighed and measured by the class, scientifically. (The longest one was 24 inches!) The pickles were distributed and given the thumbs up by all 22 first graders.

 
At 5:23 PM, Blogger Jeanne said...

Oh delish! Those look great!

 
At 10:37 PM, Blogger kkr said...

After 2 years of celiac and NO dim sum, what is an honorary Chinese woman to do??? Isn't someone out there who can make rice flour wrappers for dumplings and rice flour buns for Peking duck? I can make really good gf char Sui but I miss so much. Help, please. BTW my best homemade pickles contain vinegar. Yummy bite!

 
At 12:11 PM, Blogger NOLA said...

Wonderful post!

I discovered pickling last summer when I had a bumper crop of okra and no real freezer. Fantastic and in high demand. And this year with too many carrots to handle, I was craving Mexican pickled carrots like nobody seems to make around here, and they turned out EXACTLY as I wanted them to.

What you said about the canning jar - exactly. Exactly.

 
At 2:00 PM, Blogger Brj said...

1030am - read this blog entry.
1200pm - walked to mid-week market downtown.
1225pm - spotted pickling cucumbers.
1226pm - purchased.
8pm tonight - pickle.

Thanks for the idea; can't wait to see how they turn out!

 
At 5:23 PM, Anonymous Lisa said...

Thanks for the recipe! After just finishing your book and coming on to your blog, you make me inspired to want to cook & create! After being celiac for just over a year I'm still coming to terms with having to change, still finding it hard to break out of old habits. Of course I eat gluten-free but I quickly found the bad things I could still have and have done nothing but put on weight through experiencing these new found foods. Time is always a problem for me with running a business full time and 7 children its not easy but I guess there will always be excuses to be unhealthy. You make me inspired to want to be better, eat better, be healthier. On my journey to change I will check in here frequently to keep me on track! :) Thank you so much.

 
At 6:59 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Forget the pickles.

Where is your new book?

Still nothing up on amazon.

When will it be coming out?

 
At 7:38 PM, Blogger jen said...

I gasped when I opened your site today! This is exactly what I have been meaning to do. We got little knobby cukes in our CSA bag a week ago and we immediately decided they were meant to be pickles! I absolutely love the photo from early in your process with the light shining through the slice. Thanks!

 
At 5:26 PM, Anonymous Dana aka Gluten Free In Cleveland said...

PIckles are one of those things that make me think of family. I think it's part of the Jewish tradition in some way. Pickles instead of bread on deli tables, pickles before every holiday meal.

I absolutely love pickles (In fact, they're one of the best parts about having dangerously low blood pressure - they're practically a prescription!) and I can't wait to try these out. Your look georgeous.

 
At 10:17 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

These look SOOO good!

 
At 3:18 PM, Anonymous Robin said...

I just happened to make homemade citrus marmalade last week. I've been getting into kumquats all summer, so thought I needed to make the marmalade while there were some available. It came out so delicious (used 2 lemons, 3 oranges, 1 red grapefruit, 1 pint of kumquats). I had never made my own jam before, although I've made preserved lemons and picked vegetables. It took much longer than I thought it would to cook it down to the correct consistency, but it was worth it! I just happened to have a slightly old container of heavy cream that was separating so I threw it into the food processor and made my own butter, too. Sourdough bread with homemade butter and marmalade, yum! (sorry, I know the sourdough isn't GF... but it would be equally good on other things - btw, started reading your blog long, long ago to find GF recipes for a friend and never stopped!). Am thinking of making bar cookies next with the butter and marmalade, or a linzer type cookie. BTW, thanks for pointing to the Scallop Seviche with kumquats... added halapenos chopped up and extra lemon juice, it was divine, too. Will have to try your pickles and maybe your gravlax, too! Thanks for the inspiration!

 
At 5:27 PM, Blogger Katherine Alyce said...

My gram makes pickles every year. Thanks for this, and for the site! It's amazing : )

 
At 10:03 PM, Blogger Ali Segersten said...

Shauna - I just wanted to say...I love all of the beautiful photos of the pickling process. Wonderful lighting and what a lovely color green on those cucumbers. i bet they taste good too! -Ali :)

 
At 1:57 PM, Anonymous Marija said...

I've always wanted to make my own pickles. It sounds fairly easy :)
Thanks for sharing this.

 
At 11:48 PM, Anonymous Holli said...

Beautiful!! I love pickles and am inspired after happening upon your wonderful blog post. I have 5 lbs of cucumbers from Jubilee Farms to pickle for the first time!

 
At 9:04 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is there any way to preserve these pickles so they will last longer? Can you can them after they have fermented?

 

Post a Comment

<< Home