How I Made My First Batch Of Pickles

Remember, I am a beginner at all of this and decided to experiment....This weekend I tried my hand at pickling cucumbers.  I wanted to do this last year, but never got any cucumbers from the various plants (well lets just say my planting style at that time was the problem, but it was my first time).

Cucumber Attempt #1

Cucumber Attempt #2

Cucumber Attempt #3

So I decided to just buy some cucumbers from the grocery store (I priced the ones at the farmers market and they were wayyyyy to expensive).  I purchased the regular cucumbers, although the English cucumbers would have been better (the ones I got the skin is quite thick, so not sure if that will have a bearing on the flavor of the pickle).  I came home Saturday afternoon and checked on the garden and this is what I found.  The one cucumber that I had been watching (straight eight) was ready (from what I could tell).

I found this video on YouTube to make simple pickles, however I omitted the dill, because I don't like tart pickles (will see in about 6 weeks if that was not a good idea).

Here was my process:

Added 4 store bought cucumbers with my 1 from the garden

White vinegar, pickling salt, peppercorns, clove garlic, and onions from my garden (ones I pulled early as they were bolting)

1 extra large pot with lid to put the pickled jars in to seal them, 1 medium pot for the brine, 1 small pot to sterilize the ring, and 1 extra small pot for the lids (I know the lids and rings could go in the same pot, but the extra water in these pots were needed after the pickles were put in the extra large pot and more water was needed to cover them).

These were the extra jars I had left over (small ones from jelly making and the 3 tall ones, were from a preservation class I took and got these as part of the class).  Have to buy another case of the jars before the next canning time period.

Cut the cucumbers into wedges, any slices that were too tall for my jar, I cut off the ends and used those in the little jars.  If they are good, this is what I would call single serving size jar of pickles.

I skinned the onions and garlic.

After following the canning instructions from the video, the jars were ready to be sealed.

Here is an up close up of what the jars looked like inside

If you have an easy pickle recipe please share. My next attempt will be the cold pack method to make kosher pickles (my favorite).

More Strawberry Jelly

This week, I noticed that my husband was almost out of the strawberry jelly that I made him a few months back, so I decided to make some more. I still had half a bag of frozen strawberries from the last time I did preserves and I whip up 5 more containers for him last night (the no cook method comes out great and it only takes about 30 min.). Well when I cam home today they (husband and now my daughter) consumed half of a jar. I guess that tells me that they loved it (also they verbally told me as well. I am now looking forward to make other kinds of jelly (I really only like grape, but I think I will stick to the store bought kind). See my previous post from July '09 on the first time I ever made this type of jelly (well jelly period). These plastic jelly containers freeze very well and the cost is very good. For a better view on how to make the no freeze jam, check out this video from Ball.

My next venture will be to make my own salsa. Sometimes I just want chips and salsa for a meal and there seems to never be enough available. Ball has a video on how to make quick/easy salsa. Very much looking forward to this.

I had a moment...

I went to the grocery store finally last night to get my Thanksgiving cooking items (I know you are saying what... you waited this long, well I have been real busy at work and things are just crazy) and I finally got to my last item which was eggs. Well as most people do, I check the date and I also check to see if any are broken. Well, I started checking the dates and noticed the 19th, 5th, 10th, etc. I was getting upset because I could not imagine this store was selling out of date eggs. So I thought to myself maybe it is just this brand of eggs (which I love), so I moved to the next brand and the dates were 3rd, 5th, etc. I was on my way to find a manager to let them know that they were selling out of date eggs and how hazardous that could be to people. I stopped to form what I was going to say....Sir, how can you be selling eggs that expire December 5th, 19th, etc. when it is November 24th, I can't imagine that you don't know that these items are out of date.....Well did you catch what I was saying to myself.....I was thinking the dates on the eggs were for November when in actuality they were for December...NEXT MONTH. I chucked to myself and thanked GOD that I did not embarrass myself and did not lay my wrath on some unsuspecting grocery store worker.

Okay, I know.....enough said.

Strawberry Jam

Last month I tried my hand at doing a little preserving. I took a class in June on preservation/storage of food. I did not have strawberries in my garden, so I picked up some frozen ones, because the fresh I had prior to this were not all that great. I followed the directions on the pectin package by Ball. The process was very easy and fast. After letting the frozen strawberries thaw enough to mash them, it took 30-40 minutes for the whole process and most of that time was letting the mixture in the individual containers set up. The great thing is that they last up to 1 year in the freezer and 3 weeks in the fridge. I have plans for other fruits to make into preserves. You should try it. Since we already had some store bought jam in the fridge, all 5 of the containers went to the freezer. My father-in-law will receive 2 of these.

Cooking

Okay, last night I decided to use some of the herbs from the garden for dinner (I am not a great cook, but I try every now and again). Well I had lean hamburger meat thawed and I did not want to make spaghetti again, so burgers it was. I pulled some regular basil, thai basil and some chives. I chopped those together and mixed in with ground meat along with garlic powder, onion powder, mrs. dash, and cracked black pepper (these 4 ingredients are my main staples). I put them on my grill pan and put the burgers together with some spring mixed lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, all on sourdough bread. Man it was good and the family liked it. Next time I make it I will take a picture. You should try it. What next......