Gardening

When I was growing up, we always had a family garden. Some of my favorite childhood memories consist of my mom canning green beans, pickles and tomatoes each summer. Each summer meal was rounded out with fresh peppers, buttery lettuces, baby red potatoes, green onions, cucumbers and tomatoes gracing our dinner table each evening. To this day, my favorite "garden meal" has to be green beans and baby new potatoes cooked in the Crockpot with ham, onions, and seasonings!

Crimson and verdant jars filled with tomatoes, pickles and green beans lined our cabinets with the bounty of the season. My middle brother used to sneak in those cabinets while everyone else slept to grab a jar of tomatoes and a salt shaker for a late night snack. To this day, he still gardens and cans ~ lovingly filling sparkling mason jars with the treasures from his raised and meticulously maintained vegetable garden. To savor his beautifully straight green beans, perfectly seasoned with onion, garlic, salt, pepper, as well bacon is a true delight!

So, here goes ~ I'm trying my hand at pickles this weekend! One of my piano students has a garden and has shared green beans, zucchini and tomatoes with us. She called the other day and asked if I'd like some cucumbers. "Sure!" I responded with enthusiasm. She and her hubs brought me 2 baskets FULL!

Once I had caught my breath, I decided to make pickles. She kindly offered me to borrow her canner and brought me a bunch of mason jars and lids and rims. I'm excited to make brine and cut cucumbers into little rounds for bread & butter pickles and long spears for dills and my personal fave ~ KOSHER DILLS! I'll post next week to let you know how it went!

Thanks, my dear friend Deb, for encouraging me to post about this!