Thursday, July 20, 2006

Friends, Pickles and Monsters =)





A dear friend came over unexpectedly yesterday to visit for a bit. She had borrowed a DVD from me and she had some things she brought to me. She is moving out of state soon and I am really going to miss her. I felt blessed to have another visit with her before she goes. She lives about an hour and a half from me, which is far enough to make visiting a treat instead of daily fare. She is one of those rare souls that can be herself. She has the sweetest chuckle. She brought me the casserole dish that you see in the picture. She knows I liked it and she gave it to me as a reminder of her. I will treasure it and think of her whenever I use it.

I finally got some pickles done yesterday. Someone used to give me bread and butter pickles a long time ago. They are the best I have ever tried. I got the recipe for them and decided to give them a try. I am told the longer they sit, the better they are. I will probably make another batch of these, once I get some more red wine vinegar. I also made one gallon of crock pickles. Oh, they are SO GOOD!! I had my friend try them yesterday. Her eyes lit up and she asked for the recipe. I had asked her the day I made them about a substitute. The recipe called for 2 cloves of garlic and I have always used 4. However, I did not have any cloves of garlic, just minced garlic. I asked 2 people and they both said between 1/4 and 1/2 of a tsp. per clove. So, I who LOVES garlic put in 3 heaping tsps. =) When I told her what I had done and that the pickles she was tasting was that recipe, she told me to change the recipe to include that. Actually, the garlic is still not a strong, strong flavor. Maybe over time it will be.

The last picture is to show what happens if you do not pick your zuchinni and yellow squash EVERY day. You get monster size yellow squash and zuchinnis that you could use for a baseball bat.

Thanks everyone for leaving your comments. I enjoy seeing who stopped to visit at my place today. =) May the Lord give you a wonderful and productive weekend!!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your pickles look really nice! I haven't ever made crock pickles but they sound good. I'll have to try them soon.

I just read about how you can take dried garlic and reconstitute it yourself with olive oil and hot water. Maybe this is something you could try? The link is:
http://www.marmeedear.com/RecipeBox/Garlic.html

Take care,
Karen

Patty said...

Pickles look great Marci. And I love that casserole dish, what a sweet rememberance !

Lynn Bartlett said...

Hi Marci,
I'd like to hear what you do with all of your zucchini and other squash. We will have lots this year, and I don't want to waste it!

Marci said...

Karen, I use lots of minced garlic. I will have to try that.

Pat, the casserole dish reminded me a bit of your teapot. =)

Lynn, we of course cook lots fresh in the summer. There are lots of ways to use it... casserole, stir fry, zuchinni parmesan, as a side dish, etc. We also use a Spirooli and make zuchinni curls that we use in place of pasta. You can also find your favorite zuchinni cake and bread recipes. Find out how much zuchinni you would need, then shred your zukes and put in freezer bags in the exact amounts for your recipes. That way, you can have those delicious desserts all winter. I have a friend who cans them, but they get really mushy. I am also going to dehydrate some. You can use them in soups, spaghetti sauce or whatever and they retain a pretty good texture. Then with all the rest, you sneak over to your neighbor's and friends houses and leave bags of it on their porch. =)

Emily said...

Hi Marci! Thanks for asking about my back. It's doing okay. I'm learning to work at things in increments rather than trying to finish something strenuous all in one shot even though it takes hours. I'm the type who just has to finish what I start, much to my detriment when it's a physical task! :) I've come up with a routine that seems to be helpful and, Lord willing, I will be getting stronger as time goes by. Hope your weekend is a blessed one!

Tina Leigh said...

Wow Marci you are the Bubba Gump of squash & zuch's!! I love your dish too! you will have to cook a recipe with the produce & take a picture of it for us! You have a thoughtful friend. The pickles look butter-ree!

Mindy said...

What a busy lady you have been! your pickles look great! Lovely casserole dish too!
Blessings....

Clara....in TN said...

Your pickles look great. I want to make some lime pickles. I remember my Mother making them. Do you know how to make them?

Kelli said...

What a pretty casserole dish from a special friend! I am impressed with all the pickles. I'll bet they taste good!
Kelli