Pickling & Preserving the Harvest

Sometimes our gardens runneth over with bounty & sharing with your neighbors can be an excellent way to extend the abundance of whatever you may have grown. The exception to this rule (for me, anyway) would be a former neighbor who constantly gifted us with enormous, overgrown zucchini...there's only so much a person can take! Still, that hasn't happened for many years & I am always grateful for the gardening prowess many of my friends & neighbors bestow upon me. I now have squirreled away several jars of pickled green beans as well as a big jar of 'tomolives' ~ those tasty cocktail snacks made from green tomatoes. They are perfect accompaniments to Bloody Mary's & Martini's, or eaten in any number of ways with cheeses, charcuterie, picnics, as a side for roasts or Indian food. What are you pickling & preserving? Which foods do you crave in Winter?? Pink Slip Jam will soon be offering classes here in Portland. Stay tuned! Meanwhile, if you'd like, drop me a comment on what you most like to preserve!

Bounty!

Fear Not! I am not going to be making jam out of green beans. This is just to say that my incredible friend, Joe Rojas, gave me lots of beautiful green beans from his garden today. They are so intensely green, so fragrant, so snappingly fresh! I got to work & employed another preserving method dear to my heart: pickling. After cleaning, topping & tailing the beans, I made Szechuan Beans & Dilly Beans. The first involves soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and Szechuan peppercorns. I am convinced these will not be used for stir fry's, but will, most likely, be used in Bloody Mary's when the rain begins to fall in earnest & i will need a restorative pick-me-up on Sunday mornings! As for the latter, Dilly Beans involve dill seeds, black peppercorns, cider vinegar & fresh dill. Crunchy, crisp, & perfect to serve with other pickles, charcuterie, cheese plates, or just because. I have been known to work my way thru' a plate o' pickles before. Maybe you have, too? If any of y'all are interested in what to do with YOUR abundance of green beans, please leave a comment & I will send you a recipe! After all, we need to get busy planting garlic, shallots, onions, & potatoes for over-wintering! Time to get busy!