Pickling Things

With fall fast approaching, the farmers markets will soon empty out and cease their operations for the year.  That means that you ought to get as many fresh vegetables and can and pickle them.  Pickled cucumbers (pickles) are a no-brainer and easy, but it's fun to branch out a little.  I recently bought a whole bunch of tomatoes, potatoes, and onions, all of which I intend to can and pickle for the winter months.

Basic brine:
 I use a ratio of 1 tsp of salt (kosher or sea salt) to 1 cup of water.  When brining, I like to add in a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice and/or white vinegar.

Boil the jars to sterilize them.  Wash the vegetables well and cut out any bruises or soft parts.  With tomatoes, remove the seeds and surrounding gel.  Some vegetables, like onions and potatoes, should be peeled.  Most vegetables should be pickled raw.
Boil together a solution of salt and water (brine) and mix in some lemon juice or vinegar.  Pack the vegetables into the jars well, but not so they are smushing each other.  Pour in the brine and tap the jar to get rid of the air pockets.  Place the capped jars into boiling water for ten minutes.  Remove, and let them cool naturally (don't cool them by running under cold water, placing in the fridge, placing in ice water.  This will cause the glass to shatter.)

Onions and tomatoes to be enjoyed for the months to come.

Soon, I'll write about making your own sauerkraut, which can be wonderful.

My Harvest: Tomatoes

What you see there is a small part of my harvest of cherry tomatoes.  I have about nineteen plants on my balcony, all producing.  Most of them are red cherries, but I also have some pear-shaped ones and larger grape tomatoes.  I'm saving the seeds (another post) to plant next year.

Introduction

I started this blog to meld two of my favorite activities:  cooking and gardening.

My own garden consists of what I can fit on my windowsills and balcony.  Right now, I'm pretty bullish on tomatoes, but I also have other things like chives, lobelia, basil, and avocado (it's growing quite rapidly.)

My cooking is constantly evolving.  I started out as a poor college student, cooking whatever was cheapest (a lot of potatoes.)  Right now, I'm trying to branch out into different and exciting cuisines.  My successes and failures will be documented.

I hope you all enjoy my new blog!