Pickles!

I planted cucumbers in our garden this year. I kind of ignored them. Then I noticed they were blooming. And blooming. And blooming. But, they weren't growing any cucumbers! I was getting annoyed because they were spreading and taking up a lot of garden space! One day, I was out there and glanced down and there was a cucumber - and another - and another. I picked 20 cucumbers that day! Here is the picture of my harvest that day...

I was very excited - because in the next two weeks I managed to pick over 60 cucumbers! I decided to make them into pickles - because who can eat 60 cucumbers? The bread and butter pickles were fun - 3 hrs of sitting in an ice bath and about an hour to can them - but - the dill ones - *3 weeks* of sitting in a brine bath and "skimming scum" off of the top of the brine everyday - doesn't sound very appetizing - does it? But, I did finally get them made last weekend and, while they are very very *dill*, they are done! Here are all the pickles together... kind of pretty - huh? The dill are on the sides and the bread and butter are in the middle.

The other thing I've been canning this summer was kind of an experiment. OK - not just kind of - really an experiment! I had heard about mesquite bean jelly a few years ago when I was looking for prickly pear jelly recipes online. I decided to try it this year. So, instead of picking up all the fallen mesquite beans in the front yard, we harvested them! The kids were not quite as excited over the change of terms as I was because it essentially meant they were still spending hot summer mornings picking up beans, but oh well! We boiled the beans and made juice. It smelled like granola bars cooking! Who would have guessed! In the end, the jelly was a success - it tastes slighly like apples - another who would have guessed moment! Philip says it is his new favorite jelly. If you're in the area, you should stop by and have some - we have plenty and would love to share a piece of toast and jelly with you!