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