I can finally say that I have made pickles! On Saturday we got a bag of pickling cucumbers at the Farmer’s Market so Sunday afternoon found me standing over pots of boiling cider vinegar and spices. Canning things makes me feel very accomplished but the truth is that it is very easy as long as you organize yourself properly and have plenty of counter space. I can’t wait to find out how these taste, we are letting them cure for a month or so (though this recipe doesn’t have to be) to let the flavor develop. I am going to have to ration them for special occasions.
Since there was so much salt left from the pickles and we still have tons of lemons on the tree I decided to try out a recipe for preserved lemons. Basically, you quarter the lemons, pack them with lots of salt, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks and mixed pepper corns. Then you cover it all in the juice of a bunch of other squeezed lemons. This sits in a dark cool cabinet for 2 weeks, every day you are supposed to shake it. After the two weeks you take it all out and chuck all but the peels, which get sliced up and stored in the fridge for adding to other dishes. Not sure what I will make with them but if we like the way they turn out I may make a few more jars of them. Goodness knows we have plenty of lemons.
