Pickles.

         Sorry I've been absent for a wee bit. I've been busy and a bit preoccupied. I'd like to start with some good news. I don't have cancer! That's a relief. This is in all seriousness. Perhaps it was an overreaction to be worried about this, but I've got my answer, and now I can move on. So I'll start by telling you about some pickles I made the other day. I read a bunch of recipes, then decided to make my own. (typical!) I like to freestyle things, so there are no measurements, and there are no rules really. Experimentation is key, but here are the general steps I followed. 

1. Cut up some cucumbers into a shape you like. I like circle slices, sometimes. 

2. Cut up some other vegetables you like into shapes you like. I added green pepper and leaks.

3. Put veggies into some container. I like to shake my mixtures so I use containers with lids.

4. Add salt. Salt will pull the water out of the veggies and give you crisper pickles.

5. Shake it up to cover veggies in salt. Let it sit for some time. I gave mine 6 hours.

6. Drain the water and rinse the salt off.

7. Sterilize the pickle jar. (pickling is apparently a complicated process, but I went with easy first timer pickle recipe and modified it) If you don't plan on keeping the pickles for more than a week I don't think this is too big of a deal... I could definitely be wrong though.

8. I don't have a picture for this step, but you have to cook the brine. I used apple cider vinegar, a teaspoon of salt, and a tablespoon of sugar. I used a pinch of pickling seasonings I found in Lotte mart.

9. Pack veggies into sterilized jar. Pour in cooked brine. Close. Let the contents occupy the jar and get to know each other for a day or so. I think we let ours sit 3 days. Then eat them all. We both really enjoyed these. We also drink the pickle juice for various reasons, and I must say this juice was particularly tasty.

Stay tuned for hopefully tons of updates covering the past two weeks. 

xoxo Claire