Let’s just preface this post by saying I’ve always hated pickles. Not just disliked, but hated in that “oh my god I’m so grossed out by this thing” way that you can hate a food. In high school someone taunted me by waving a pickle in my direction (of the food variety, let’s not let our minds end up in that track!). I immediately, without hesitation, slugged her as hard as I could. Hmmm, anger issues much?

Anyhow, fast forward to the present-day, calm-cool-semi-collected Courtney, who last year in her CSA received a pound of pickling cucumbers. Not one to throw away good food, I decided I would attempt to pickle the things, and at the least I could push them off on my husband and friends. I dug in, searching my favorite sites for pickle recipes, hoping to come across something that didn’t include dill. After all, if I’m going to spend the time in the kitchen, I would like to at least try the thing I make. Not being a fan of dill or pickles, I can’t imagine bringing such a thing near my tongue.

Then I stumbled upon it – the Sriracha pickle! Sriracha = something I love. Pickle = something I hate. (more…)

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Condiments, Dairy free, Gluten free, Prep for Later Use, Vegetarian by Courtney

A while back I stumbled upon a picture of The Hungry Texan’s pickled jalapenos on YumSugar. Hers were very festive – a great mix of green and red, perfect for holiday gift giving – and I’ve been thinking about them ever since. Putting away some jalapeno peppers for football season would be awesome – nachos here I come! So that’s exactly what I did, following her recipe to a tee, scaling down a bit since I didn’t have nearly enough jalapenos.

While mine aren’t as pretty (not enough red peppers) I’m sure they’ll be tasty come nacho time. (more…)

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Condiments, Dairy free, Gluten free, Prep for Later Use, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney

Today I’m continuing the harvest theme, showcasing more of my hard work from Labor Day weekend (I’m sure there’s a joke to be inserted there). This time it’s what I did with the bulk of the green beans I had picked.

The funny thing about green beans is, I don’t particularly care for them. I buy most of my vegetables as seedlings from Cole Canyon Farm at the Campbell Farmer’s Market (and really, I should buy all of my vegetables from them – they do really well). The guy that runs the booth is really nice, and he tossed in a free green bean plant. I decided to take it since my husband likes green beans. When we got home, I wasn’t quite sure where I would plant the beans, and they sat in their plastic box for about a month, getting occasional water and almost dying before I finally decided to plant them in a narrow strip of dirt along the patio.

So, I don’t care for green beans, I almost killed them before they prospered, and the other amusing thing about this story is I don’t care for pickles much, either. Over time, I’ve found that I like pickled peppers, Indian mango pickle, and giardiniera, but that’s about it. So what do I do with my green beans? I pickle them, of course! (more…)

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Appetizers, Dairy free, Gluten free, In the Garden, Prep for Later Use, Vegetarian by Courtney