Farmer's Market Find: Cucumbers

Garden harvest time! That means zucchini, green beans, and cucumbers are ready for the picking. Since my best friend Bethany and I have picked a lot of cucumbers lately, I figured it would be a good time for a pickle post! 

When I was at the farmer's market last week one of my favorite vendors had baskets full of cucumbers. He was eager to get rid of them too. He was selling them super cheap and was making deals with people just so he wouldn't have to tote them home that day. So, even if you don't have a garden there are still cucumber possibilities. 

I love sweet pickles canned fresh from the garden. When I was a kid my grandma made the best sweet pickles ever and I wanted to find a recipe that mimicked hers. Here's what I found:

Refrigerator Sweet Pickles

6 Cucumbers Sliced
2 Cups Sliced Onions
1 Cup Sliced Green Peppers


4 Cups Sugar
2 1/2 Tbs Canning Salt
2 Cups White Vinegar

Canning jars (sterilized) - I used a couple pint canning jars. I also made a jelly jar sized portion for my husband. Since he doesn't like onions I added jalapenos instead. It made a sweet n' hot pickle that wasn't too bad!

Combine your cucumbers, onions, and green peppers in a bowl and set aside. In a small bowl mix your sugar, canning salt (I used kosher salt that I ground in our coffee grinder...worked like a charm), and vinegar. 

Stuff your canning jar full of cucumbers, onions, and green peppers. Try to get as many in there as you can. Then, pour your sugar mixture into the jar. Put a lid on them and shake them up. Then, stick them in your refrigerator. Once or twice a day, for five days, give them a good shake and return them to the refrigerator. In five days, you will have some really delicious sweet pickles. They should be good for a couple of weeks, but they are so good they probably won't last that long.

You could freeze these as well, just be sure to leave a little room at the top for the ingredients to expand. 

Of course, since I made sweet pickles and there was no shortage of cucumbers it only seemed fair to make dill pickles as well.  Here is a recipe my family seemed to enjoy. I'm sure there are better recipes out there. If you have one, I'd love to give it a try. 

Kosher Crunchy Dills
Recipe from: grandmabeesrecipes.com

(This recipe is for 1 – quart jar of pickles)

2-3 sprigs fresh dill, with flowers
2 garlic cloves
1 ¼ lbs. (about 8-10 small-med.) pickling cucumbers
1 T. Kosher Salt
½ c. white vinegar
Water

Bring to a boil about 2 cups of water.  Remove from heat and set it aside to cool.

Put dill flowers, and garlic cloves in bottom of sterilized quart jar. Slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise. Arrange the cucumbers in jar for a tight fit. Add the salt and the vinegar. Then, fill the jar (to within 1/8” from the top of the jar) with the cooled water. Put on seal and ring. Shake to dissolve the salt. Set jar upside down on the counter for about 4-5 days (avoiding direct sunlight) turning the jar either upside down or upright each day. Let sit upright for 2 more days. Then refrigerate.

Since these aren't processed in a water bath canner, they have to be refrigerated once they go through their pickling phase. They should last several weeks in the refrigerator. I made a few pint jars of the spears and a few of the traditional sliced kind. Both of these cuts turned out really good. So, you can slice them the way you want. 

Now you have two easy and delicious refrigerator pickle recipes to try. I hope if you have one that is even better that you will send me an email: womaninthemancave@yahoo.com. I'm on the lookout for a good relish recipe, so if anyone has one be sure to send me an email. I look forward to your recipes. 

As always, thanks for reading. 

Take care.

NB

100 Days of Pinterest: Lemon Zucchini Bread

Well, the day has come. I have reached 100 Days of Pinterest! It's been a long, inspiring journey. I went from dwelling on how unlucky I was, to marveling at how talented I am. I think anyone who has been handed a diagnosis such as multiple sclerosis can relate to those feelings of pity, anger, and depression. I needed an escape from those emotions and this 100 Days of Pinterest challenge helped me to get away from those feelings. Of course, I still have my days when I feel like total hell. That's to be expected. However, I have stopped obsessing over a disease that I can't fix. I have redirected my energy to a better place, and that has been such an amazing result.

When I created this challenge I had no idea that I was a foodie or even had the ability to do half of the projects I attempted. Yes, I failed at making caramels the first two times. However, I didn't give up and I was successful the third time around. I discovered my passion for creating things that were better for my family than the processed foods that are so convenient. I have also met some really great people in the blogging community along the way. It's been a process that has benefited my overall well-being and I am thankful that I took the challenge on. I was hesitant at first, but once I got going I couldn't stop being inspired.

That being said, let's get on to the recipe that was my favorite from the past week. Since it's garden harvest time, I stuck with something that can be made with those zucchinis that are ready to be picked or found at your local farmer's market. This Lemon Zucchini Bread is amazing. It's also a healthy alternative to last week's Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread (<----SO GOOD! Click there, you know you want the recipe).  It has fresh lemon and lemon zest inside that make it a perfect summer treat. I made a loaf for a family get-together and it didn't last long.

Here's the recipe.

Lemon Zucchini Bread With Lemon Glaze
Originally posted on NancyCreative.com

Makes one 9×5″ loaf

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 cup grated zucchini (you don’t need to peel the zucchini before grating it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan; set aside.
In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
In medium bowl, beat 2 eggs well, then add canola oil and sugar, and blend well. Then add the buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest and blend everything well. Fold in zucchini and stir until evenly distributed in mixture.
Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and blend everything together, but don’t overmix.
Pour batter into prepared 9×5″ loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (if your oven tends to run hot, check the loaf after 40 minutes; also, if you make this in an 8×4″ loaf pan, your baking time may be a little longer…about 5 to 10 minutes more). Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. While loaf is cooling, you can make the glaze…
LEMON GLAZE

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Spoon glaze over cooled loaf. Let glaze set, then serve.
---------------------------------

That's it. Since I took this to a family get together and didn't feel like making two loaves, I sliced the bread as normal and then halved each piece and put them on a serving platter. That way, instead of eight slices of bread, I had sixteen half slices. Worked perfectly. There is an excessive amount of lemon glaze, so put as much glaze as you want on the loaf. You may have some left over, or you may go glaze crazy and pour the whole amount on the loaf. It's all you, do your glaze thing!

I've now made a Double Chocolate and a Lemon Zucchini bread. I wonder what other flavors of zucchini bread I can find? Do you have any ideas? I would love to hear them. You can send me an email with your recipe to: womaninthemancave@yahoo.com or you can post them here. Either way, I'd love to give them a try. I'm on the lookout for a great regular zucchini bread recipe and I hope you can help me out!

As always . . .

take care!
NB

Garden Fresh: Freezing Green Beans

Since it's time to harvest some of those goodies from our gardens, I figured this would be a great time to begin sharing tips, tricks, and recipes for those garden harvest items. This is also useful for those Farmer's Market shoppers who aren't too familiar with what to do with those market finds.  As always, please share yours as well. I'm always interested in seeing what great cooks you all are!

Today's post is intended for those green beans. I love green beans and since they have started to appear, I figured I'd freeze the first harvest I got. I've never frozen green beans before, but it's really not that difficult. If I can do it, anyone can!

First things first, you have to wash those things. I put mine in the sink to soak for a few minutes and then drain and repeat. Followed by a good rinse. My best friend, Bethany, and I don't use any sorts of chemicals on our garden. It's organic and safe for everyone (and anything) to eat. That means I inspected the beans for any bug damage or habitation.

Then, I called my two sons in to help me snap off the tips. My oldest used a knife, because he's that sort of kid. He's a tween, so knives make him feel like he is ever closer to adulthood (not so fast, little man). My youngest son thought he was the greatest thing to ever occur to green beans, because he could get the tips off faster than anyone. Works for me! The faster we get this done, the sooner I can move on to other things.

Once the ends of the beans are off (don't waste those tips...stick them in the compost bin or see if a friend with a farm wants them to feed to their animals), I rinsed them again. My sons have cooties, so another washing was necessary. Then, I got a pot of water boiling. Once it was at a nice rolling boil, I added the green beans. I read that you can either stick the beans in the water for only three minutes to blanch them or you can leave them in there until the water returns to a boil. I left them in until the water returned to a boil.

Once the boil started back up, I immediately removed the pot from the burner and dumped them into a strainer in my sink and began rinsing them with cold water. This stops them from cooking anymore. It took about ten minutes for this. Once they were nice and cold I placed them on some paper towels to dry (no, I haven't eliminated paper towels yet...however, Seventh Generation towels are the only thing I use in my home. Great product!).  Once the green beans are nice and dry I stuck them in some quart freezer bags, labeled them with the date, and stuck them in the freezer. Easy peasy!!   

Now I have garden fresh frozen green beans ready when I need them. I'm going to can the next batch I get. I'll be sure to post my technique on here when I harvest some more. If you have some good green bean ideas, please share them. I'm always looking for great techniques and ideas!

As always...
take care!
NB

I Love the Farmer's Market

This is the market I go to every Saturday in Troy, OH.

Since the Farmer's Markets in my area run on Saturdays, I figured maybe some of yours do too. I have been frequenting my local market for almost a decade. When I first started to go, there were only a few people with tables set up. The pickings were slim. Since then things have changed. I have noticed more and more people showing up. Where it was once just me and the older folks, there are now people of all ages purchasing their fruits and veggies from local farmers and gardeners.

What's beneficial about this is that each of these people know where their food is coming from and they can even find out how they grew it, whether it's organic or not. Plus, there are lots of sweets these vendors like to sell as well. Last week I purchased a Chocolate Chip Angel Food Cake from one of the older gentleman who helps run the market. I could have made it myself, but why? He already had it made. He just saved me some oven time and I don't have to buy the supplies to make that cake. Plus, I'm helping him with his business. Seems like a good excuse for me ;)

I'm a regular with one vendor in particular. His aunt makes these amazing granola bars that I have been buying since the beginning. I love them. Recently, I haven't been able to purchase any due to the larger number of people that have began visiting the market. This past Saturday I walked up to him and I could tell by the look on his face he was going to tell me I was too late again . . . I was. He assured me he'd set a plate of granola bars aside just for me next week. I can't be mad for good business. Especially when it benefits local families.

I live in Ohio and I'm curious to see how many states have these Farmer's Markets. Maybe they are called something else. Here's my challenge for you. The next time you are at your local Farmer's Market, take a picture. Then, head on over to Woman in the Man Cave on Facebook and share your picture and the market location.Who knows, maybe you'll help to get more business for your market in the process.

As always, thanks for reading!

Take care,
NB