In a Pickle

Since I seem to find myself "in a pickle" these days, I thought it was an appropriate time to make pickles. Pickled cucumbers that is.


The idiom "in a pickle" refers to being in a disagreeable situation. It's kind of a mysterious figure of speech because "pickle" usually means something preserved in a brine or vinegar solution. So metaphorically you could conjure up the image of sitting in a sour, vinegar bath. Hmm.....sounds about right.....in a pickle.


However, explaining how I got my cucumbers "in a pickle" is a lot more interesting than explaining how I got myself "in a pickle."



This was my first attempt at making pickles. When I brought the pickling cucumber plants home from the Farmer's Market, I think Keith was worried that there wasn't enough space to plant them. But being the nice accommodating husband that he is, he found room for all four plants and this week we harvested the first bunch of cucumbers.


As a child, homemade pickles were one of my fondest memories of my Grandma Smith, who died recently. She canned so many things but the little baby pickles were one of my favorites. Her pickles were in high demand by everyone who tried them. I even remember a time that my parents transported a gallon ice cream tub full of them home on an airplane for one of their friends. Of course that was before the 3 ounce liquid rule. I can still picture the plastic tub sloshing with pickle juice as they carried it through the terminal.


I didn't have my grandmother's recipe so I "loosely" followed one from the Martha Stewart website. Nor did I have all the ingredients that the recipe called for so I just left them out and added a few of my own.


After sterilizing my jars, and preparing the cucs, I filled each 12 ounce jar with a dill flower from our garden. I also added some peppercorns to the jars as well. I think you could add just about anything you wanted to, garlic, spicy peppers, onions, all of which would enhance the flavor. But this was my first try and I wanted to start out simple. The brine that I made consisted of vinegar, water, salt and cumin. Once the cucs were packed in the jars, I poured the brine over them, put on the lids and processed them in a water bath. The hard part is having to wait to eat them. They need a good two weeks before opening so that flavors can mingle. Yum! They might not be as good as my grandma's but I can't wait to try them!

A Culinary Garden

I'm so lucky to be married to a man whose passion is sustainable gardening. My husband painstakingly turned our yard into a chef's dream. He has provided me, the chef (and my family), with a wonderful array of fruits and vegetables that are at my disposal day and night.

Our gardens have made cooking a delight, when all I have to do is walk out into my yard to clip some fresh herbs, or veggies for our dinner. I find myself planning our meals around what's available in our garden, like eating a big salad almost every night. There's nothing better then freshly picked greens and herbs topped with spicy peppers, cucumbers, green beans, snap peas, and cherry tomatoes -- all from our garden!

In May we took pleasure in eating strawberries from the planter below. We also have several young blueberry plants that have provided us with a handful of berries every other day for the past couple of weeks.

Newly planted this spring are 18 grape vines of three different varieties. However, as you can see the Japanese beetles have been getting the best of them. Keith is in search of a way to get rid of the pests without using any chemicals. For now, the boys go out and pick off as many as they can find, and drop them into a jar of rubbing alcohol to kill them. Aren't boys awesome!

Some of the other produce that Keith has planted, and that we can look forward to eating later this summer and in early fall, are sweet potatoes, cantaloupe, squash, several varieties of peppers and tomatoes, broccoli, beets, onions, and garlic.

We also have some newly planted raspberry and blackberry bushes that will hopefully produce berries for us by next summer, along with about 100 asparagus plants that should be ready for picking by next spring.

I know how lucky I am to be able to access fresh, pesticide-free produce right from my yard, and I count my blessings every day for my sweet, sustainable-gardener-husband who provides it for me.

Blueberries

A couple of friends and I made our annual trip out to Bray's Blueberries last week. It was a perfect day for picking with overcast skies and mild temperatures. We had a great time visiting, as we dropped blueberries into our pails, so early in the morning.

It took me about 1 hour and 45 minutes to fill up this bucket which turned out to be 11 pounds of blueberries.

I think I ate at least a quart of blueberries when I got home. I also made 14 jars of jam, a festive berry tart for the 4th of July, and froze a gallon-sized Ziploc bag full of berries. We are still enjoying a few of the remaining fresh blueberries that are in the fridge. We'll see if all the jam and frozen berries will last us until next year's picking.

Disney Adventure

The boys were fortunate enough to visit Disney World for the first time thanks to Grandma R. Not only did Grandma treat the boys to this once in a life time adventure, she flew them there and back and shared in their Disney experience.

Grandpa was not able to join them because he is scheduled to have knee surgery soon and wouldn't have been able to keep up with all the walking. But Grandma and the boys were troopers, and aside from a few minor snafus they all had a wonderful time. Thanks, Grandma!

Life is Good on White Lake

After leaving Door County we enjoyed a long weekend with my parents at a friend's cottage on White Lake. There are motor restrictions on this lake which I think makes it even more beautiful and certainly more peaceful. There is something special about relaxing on or near the water. It is a true vacation. The lake is only a few steps from the back door of the cottage and the boys are easily entertained here.

They made several trips out in the paddle boat; this was the first year we allowed them to take it out by themselves.

They swam every day, and Ethan enjoyed fishing off the dock.

The cottage also comes equipped with a pontoon boat and we managed to take it out for a spin a couple of times each day. Ethan's highlight was getting to drive fast.

Cave Point Park

Today we drove to the lake side of the peninsula and took a hike in Cave Point Park. The park is named from the caves that were formed from Lake Michigan waves wearing out the cliffs and forming caves. The water was clear and inviting but a little too cold for wadding. The kids liked the shells and the rocky shoreline.

Door County Continued

Today we took a drive along the bay side of Door County. Our first stop was Peninsula State Park. It was a beautiful drive with many picturesque views of the bay and Lake Michigan. We took a tour of Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, one of 10 lighthouses located in Door County. The boys were most impressed that the innkeepers raised 7 boys in the lighthouse which had no running water. The only water source came from the bay and in order to get water up to the lighthouse, the boys had to carry water up a staircase with more than 100 steps. Once inside the lighthouse, I was impressed with these beautiful wood stoves and also the pretty china that belonged to the innkeepers.

Next stop was Eagle Fire Tower. I couldn't convince the boys to climb the 75 feet to the top of the tower with me. The views from the top were breathtaking.

After leaving the fire tower we drove to the very tip of the peninsula, Gills Rock and then back down again. On the way back we stopped in Sister Bay which was settled by Norwegian immigrants and it's Scandinavian heritage is still very evident today. We stopped at one of the Swedish restaurants, Al Johnson's to take a picture of the roof of the restaurant which was covered in grass and there were goats lounging on it.

Our last stop before heading home was in Ephraim. We stopped at Wilson's for ice cream. I had caramel explosion and I have to say it was probably the best ice cream I've ever had. Sorry Ben and Jerry's and Brusters!