Experimenting.

Our next door neighbors have a huge garden.

And they have gifted us a ton of veggies.

Thankfully, we are veg~a~holics but we

still have lots leftover. So it was time for action.

Too many cucumbers? What to do?

Let's learn how to pickle!!

First, find a great recipe. We found

many and all were the same, so we

chose the one that seemed the easiest

to follow along. Washed our jars out.

Washed, then cut up the cukes into

spears and circles. Should make 4 jars.

Mixed up crushed, fresh garlic, organic dill

weed, a pickling spice and red pepper flakes. 

Spicy but not hot.

Filled 6 jars with round cucumbers,

tall spears and sliced carrots for fun.

Made up the brine of pickling vinegar

and coarse salt, boiled the poured in the jars.

And finally, the end product. Currently cooling

but soon will be refrigerated for 48 hours. Then

we can open them up and enjoy our hard work.

These will last several weeks. Now that we've

done a bit experimenting in food preservation,

it may soon be time to invest in canning products.

Have you ever tried making your own pickles?

Did you venture into other food preservation?