B E B E R E

My mom never got much into preserving or jellymaking like I did. She's a good cook; that just wasn't her thing. (Just like bread making isn't her thing at all, though she's a great baker.) One thing she did like to do at the end of the summer, though, was to make pickles. For some reason, we always had a surfeit of cucumbers. I'm too little to remember where they came from - maybe from our garden, maybe from the Grandparents, maybe from the branch of the family that has a farm out in Amish/Attica country. Regardless, there was a cucumber "problem" like many experience with zucchini.

Anyway, my mom's pickles sort of ruined me for the industrial ones. Nathans and Batampte make pretty good briny ones. No one makes sweet ones like she does.

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One of the nice things the ex-roommate did while she was still lucid was to give me a subscription to Cooking Light. (It didn't cost her anything, I think it was one of those free gift subscription deals, but money was tight and her heart was in the right place. I'm very thankful for it, though I have to admit that I do get a twinge in the upper chest when I see it in the mail.) Very often, as it's gotten more into the lifestyle stuff (yoga retreats, green homes, etc), I don't find much of interest. The August feature on pickling and preserving was pretty nice, though.
All sort of interesting stuff I'd like to try, from a version of kimchee to gravlax (not to mention a sort of duck breast "prosciutto" which could be really nice if it doesn't kill one).

The cucumbers were coming in force so, pressed for time and energy, I tried out their refrigerator bread and butter pickle recipe. Very nice. I ended up with six cups worth.



Four cups remain. I think the smaller jars will go to the landlord and Raphaella. Am considering making more and freezing them in tupperware, too. We'll see.