I Like Bread and Butter

Here's the thing about cucumbers:

you plant them,

you watch them grow,

and then overnight you have 10 million.

Luckily, we love cucumbers (even especially Ben).

We eat about 5 varieties of cucumber salads,

put them in regular green salads,

eat them plain with hummus,

etc etc etc.

And if and when we still have a ton extra, I make pickles.

Lots of different kinds, and one of our faves is this recipe for bread and butter pickles.

Great for snacking, putting out for company, and throwing on a "sammich".

Bread and Butter Pickles:

For a batch of about 4 pint-sized Mason jars:

about 9 cups cucumbers, sliced

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1 large onion (like a Vidalia if you can get one)

1 1/2 cups white vinegar

3/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

a healthy pinch or a couple shakes of tumeric

Clean, trim, and slice thinnly your cucumbers and add to a large bowl.

Sprinkle the salt over them and give them a toss. cover them lightly with a cloth and put them in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

They'll lose a lot of their excess water.

Rinse them off in a colander, place them back in your bowl, and add your onion. Toss so everything is evenly disributed.

In a medium pan, add the rest of your ingredients and bring to a bowl.

Meanwhile, put your cucumber-onion mixture into your sterilized mason jars using a funnel so you're sure not to touch the rim.

In a small saucepan bring a couple inches of water to a simmer (not boil) and place your lids in the water to activate the seal.

Pour your brine over the cucumbers (again using a funnel), leaving a 1/4 inch of headspace.

wipe down your rims if there is any spillage.

Note: Be careful with the brine! Tumeric can stain, so you may want to wear an apron.

Place lids on the jars being careful not to touch the under side, and place ring over the top.

Screw on lightly.

Process in a waterbath for 30 minutes.

Done! The longer they sit, the better they taste, but I'd say (as with the pickled peppers) wait at least a week for some good flavor to develop.

Cukes!

My cucumbers have been coming in more and more as the days go on.

There is not quite enough to make a big batch of pickles yet,

but there are too many for just salads and snacking,

so I've been making a lot of cucumber salad,

one of our favorite summertime sides.

My husband is on a low carb/dairy free diet right now, though,

so I've had to adjust my recipes.

I had one with a dressing similar to green goddess (dairy)

and one vinegar based (with sugar).

So here is our compromise:

4 Cucumbers, peeled and sliced thinly

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (some sugar, yes, but much less that my other recipe)

1 green onion, finely chopped

a couple sprigs of fresh parsley, chopped

a pinch of salt

freshly cracked black pepper

Mix, let set for a bit (the cukes will release a lot of their water in this time), and enjoy.

Simple, cheap, and my kid (who has been particularly picky lately) LOVES it to boot!

Win, win, win.

Garden Update June 2012

June went really well in the garden.

Everything is looking great,

and the first fruits (vegetables, really) are popping up everywhere.

First tomatoes and peppers.

First zucchini
and yellow squash.

And just wee little beginnings of cucumbers.

My herbs are growing like crazy.

(I'm so happy to finally have some lavender!

I was surprised to have so much trouble finding a plant,

but I eventually found a plant at the farmers market from my regular guy)

My peas are about done,

it's getting way too hot for them,

but I'm pleased with what I was able to harvest.

I'll definitely be planting more shelling peas next year.

The farmers market is full of new food stuff,

so I'm getting my canning supplies together and planning out what I would like to put up this year.

Living on such a small piece of property really limits what we can grow,

and we pretty much eat through what we grow ourselves.

Luckily, we have a great farmers market,

and I've fostered a relationship with a local farmer there,

so I can "order" bushels of whatever I would like to put up.

You'll be seeing lots of putting up posts in the future,

but for now, I'm just planning out what I can put up that we would eat a lot of through the winter.

Anyone out there have a favorite?

Another Pallet Project

Another simple raised garden idea. 

I had some pallets left over from my bookshelf project.

The workers just kept bringing them, bless their  nicotine-saturated souls,

but most were not bookshelf-worthy.

They had too many broken or missing panels

or they were just straight up nasty.

So I turned one into a little raised bed for my pickling cucumbers.

I had just a little patch of sun left in the yard to grow some more veg,
 so I just screwed in some scrap pieces of 2x4's on the sides to keep the soil from leaking out.

I put some gravel down underneath to help with some drainage,

and then added a couple bags of organic gardening soil and compost.






Cooper was very curious about the whole thing.

Then, I planted.

My cucumbers are now happy little clams,

and they have their very own spot in the yard which is great because they can start to take over the garden otherwise.
They've grown a ton since these pictures were taken.
And I'll have an overall garden update coming up soon.

I'm looking forward to having more pickles this year.

I have a couple different variations on cucumber pickles that I'm sure I'll share when the time comes.