The Can-Can-Weekend

Bread & Butter Pickles | Photo: Kelly Hunt You may recall me whining a bit about not being able to hit the markets every weekend this summer because it was the “summer of camping” and I found it hard to fit it all in. Well, this past weekend I made up for it – BIG TIME! I decided that I would hit Trails End Market on Saturday. I had plans to find what I needed to make the “Relish, Sauce and Chutney Recipe” from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver – which is not a cookbook, but instead, a book of fiction. I bring this up – because this is really my book – the book that made it all click for me – the book that turned my thinking on local eating and made me really think about the way I eat and shop. This particular recipe I made two years ago with my cousin Nicole. It takes quite a while and a ton of ingredients but you end up with barbecue relish, a sweet and sour sauce and a wicked tasting chutney, that people are always trying to steal out of my pantry! Where the heck am I going with this post? Well, I went to find all the ingredients for that recipe, but I found so much more at Trails End Market. It”s just crazy there, you can find just about anything! You want some dill weed? Some potatoes? Hey,how about a live chicken? You can have it all! Well I had it all,and that is where this post brings me. I brought home a huge bushel of tomatoes, a basket of concord grapes, some red onions, a basket of red and white potatoes, carrots, some fresh dill, some cilantro, a basket of pimento peppers, a bushel of pickling cucumbers and two baskets of peaches! It took me four trips to the car in the pouring rain, where I ruined my newly styled hair but was happy with my haul in the end. Now – the pickles. I bought a bushel of pickling cucumbers. They are like normal cukes, but smaller. I wanted to make bread and butter pickles for the first time. I started those yesterday morning and finished them off after work today. I had so many cukes, that I also made dill pickles yesterday. My pantry is filling up now – but I still have tomatoes left over from the HUGE bag that I purchased for just $8. So, I am thinking that maybe tomato sauce is in order sometime later this week, if I find the energy. If you are interested in making Bread and Butter Pickles – I pretty much followed the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, Limited Edition Recipe: 4 Quarts (16 cups) sliced cucumbers 8 medium onions – sliced 1/3 cup pickling salt 3 cloves garlic cracked ice 4 cups sugar 3 cups cider vinegar 2 tablespoons of mustard seeds 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric 1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds In a huge pot, combine cukes, onions, pickling salt and garlic. Add about 2 inches of ice on top and refrigerate overnight (or at least 3 hours). Remove any remaining ice and drain, remove garlic. In a big pot, combine sugar, vinegar, mustard seeds, turmeric and celery seeds. Bring to a boil. Add your cucumbers and onions, return to a boil. Sterilize 4 large jars and lids and screw tops. Pack hot cucumbers into your jars, fill with liquid to a 1/2 inch from the rim. Place lids and screw tops on and return to water bath for 10 minutes at full boil. Remove to cool – label and store for about 3 weeks before eating.  Read More