Productive morning

[vgqn]

I finally found a pickle recipe that I like (which is to say, tastes like Vlasic Dill Stackers), so I'm making up a big batch today to can for the winter. Yum yum. I harvested yesterday and put out a box of cukes, squash, beans, and rutabagas with a free sign. Last I checked, just 2 cukes, 1 squash, and 1 rutabaga remained.

I've washed and hung out the towels and rags used when cleaning up from the party and now have a load of whites in the wash. When that's done, I'll run the dishwasher. I've nearly got packages ready to go to my niece and step-niece (book readers both -- how wonderful to buy for!). Mike has just returned from successfully selling some old electronics equipment at the California Radio Society flea market.

And it's just past 11:00! What might the rest of the day bring?

Comments

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

You remember old-fashioned "pickled watermelon rind" -- a sweet-pickle confection of the white part of watermelons, with cinnamon & cloves? There exists -- almost certainly OnLine, as practically everything is nowadays -- a recipe for making something like it (& delicious) from overgrown zucchini (sadly, I've lost my version, coming from Diane Martin, at the L.A. County Arboretum, which involves using a nursery-quality (rather than ridiculously-expensive pharmaceutical/food-quality) hydrated lime(?) to keep it crisp).

Not that I'm about to can any kind of pickles (or even peach jam) during this hot weather. This is known as "strength of character" in the circles in which I usually move. Or maybe "Composting is Good Ecology".

[vgqn.livejournal.com]

Watermelon pickles from zucchinis?! That's an interesting idea. It's hard to find watermelon with enough rind to be able to pickle these day since people, understandably, favor thinner rinds. I suppose the lime would be essential, though, since zucchini would lack the crispness of the watermelon. But nursery quality rather than pharmaceutical? Um, don't think I would have done that myself.

However, we don't eat sweet pickles very often. I just found a jar of watermelon pickles in the pantry from the last time I made them, several years ago, but there's a jar in the fridge that we need to finish off first. The dill slices, however, we love in sandwiches and eat frequently, so I'm really excited to have canned those.

Someone took the remaining vegetables, including the rutabaga, so I didn't have to feed them to the compost bins. Hooray! I was experimenting with rutabagas to see whether planting it in June would work, because when I've planted in the fall, they've never sized up. The answer is, June works too well! I didn't really want mature rutabagas in August -- they're cool weather veg in my book.