There is something about pickle making that always makes me nostalgic. I'm not sure why, since I've only been doing it for the last few years. Perhaps its knowing that I'm walking where those I love have gone before. I didn't make pickles with my Oma very often, but it's her recipe, and now, making them with my mom (and Girl poking at play doh in the corner), it makes me happy. We laugh when we remember stories, like the one about the lady my Oma worked for, who hated washing cucumbers so much that she put them into the washing machine. Every cucumber came out broken, but she didn't care. We groan collectively when we have a blow-out in the canner.
But that's mostly because we have to throw those pickles out now. *sigh*. We lost two jars.
It was a long day, especially since I also made a big batch of chili (enough for 6 family meals at $1.95/meal), a massive pot of beet borscht, and a small batch of relish, not to mention the roasted chicken for dinner, and chicken stock with the carcass.
I'm feeling a lot better about this whole thing now that I have a lot of food in the freezer. It's my own little stash of convenience food.
OMA'S PICKLES
in the jars (clean and sterile ones):
as many cucumbers as you can jam in (they shrink, so cram them in good)
2-3 silverskin pearl onions
one good sized dill flower
1 tsp pickling spice (if there are hot peppers in the mix, take those out)
brine:
13 cups water
4 cups vinegar
1 cup salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
heat on the stove until all the sugar and salt is fully dissolved, and pour into jars while still hot.
Close the jars and seal in a hot water bath.
No comments:
Post a Comment