Welcome back

So much has happened in my pickle life since I last blogged.  I was having big issues with commitment and  decided to retire the pickle blog.  Like most people in the year 2013, I lead a very full life and I was looking at my blog as a burden, instead of an escape.  Since my last blog post here is what I have learned:
1.  I still love pickles, and like to share my love with others
2.  I am a loud mouth, who likes to talk to much and when I blog I tend to drive the people who know me a little less crazy
3.  I may not be the world's most gifted writer, but I do enjoy it, so here I am, again.

Since it has been so long since I have written a post, I decided I would just write another blog entry recommitting.  I know my 17 followers are probably skeptical, but I am not making any promises.  I am not going to write about a pickle a day.  I am going to shoot for once a week.  My husband was the most disappointed in me, because he tries to support all I do.  Here I go again.

Peppered Pickles

My latest spicy find comes from a company called Frog Ranch Foods.  Frog Ranch makes salsa and pickles, so it seems natural to me they make spicy pickles.  I recently tried a jar of the All Natural Hot and Spicy Peppered Pickle.  The good about this pickle, they really do taste freshly packed.  It was a home made taste with quality ingredients.  Since they are pickled with jalapenos after a few these really have a kick!  My only complaint would be that I like my pickles a little more salty.  These pickles are almost there, but not quite.  I also put these in my tuna sandwich.  They had a great flavor for the tuna.  They were too spicy for anyone else in my family to eat, so I did enjoy the whole jar.

I enjoy the idea of a peppered pickle and the different interpretations of the pickle.  Miss Jenny has a salt and pepper pickle, there are many recipes for a peppered pickle, of course Frog Ranches' peppered pickle and various others.  In this very snowy February it is nice to sit down, curl up by the fire and warm up with a peppered pickle.  Not your idea of a winter treat?  Try it, it will keep you warm or at least your taste buds!

Pickles and movies.

This morning the Oscar nominations were announced.  I use to love this time of year.  When Alberto and I started dating we always had seen all the movies nominated, could talk at length about the best performances, we could even supply some basic commentary on Best Score or Original Song.  Fast forward to two kids later, and we usually have a comment that is something along the lines of, "we didn't see one of the best animated movies."  "Really?  It must have come out during dance season or soccer season or (insert whatever season the kids are involved in here).  You can imagine my shock this morning when I had seen not one of the Best Picture Nominations, but four the nominations and only three of the five in the Best Animation category!  True, percentage wise, I still saw more in the animation category, but I chose to manipulate the data to show that I got to see more grown up films then kid films this year.  After all, I work in academia and that is what we do, manipulate research.

Some of my fondest memories of the time when Alberto and I did see movies, is that we could get a pickle at the movie theater, and by we, I mean me.  I moved to west Texas in 1995 and found many things I did not like.  I don't like dust storms, I don't like temperatures above 100 degrees for several days in a row, I don't like fried okra, I don't like barbecue, I don't like flat landscape...you get the picture.  I did find I liked that you could buy a pickle at the movies.  I also understand you can probably do this other places too, but when I was growing up in Idaho Falls, ID, we did not have this option.  The pickles were big, juicy and very fragrant, which probably annoys others in the theater who do not have love for the gherkin as I do.  Those people have issues anyway.  I can remember one of those pickles was big enough to be a meal.  Maybe, in retrospect, we saw so many movies because pickles were an option.  I am apparently not the only one who misses this though:





Pickles and movies go together like Fred and Ginger, Peanut Butter and Jelly or even Harold and Kumar.  You can be assured when the Oscars air on February 26th, I will have plenty of my favorite salty snack!

Harold and his hot pickles

For Christmas, I receive an Amazon.com gift certificate.  I decided why not look for pickles on Amazon.  I ordered some of these:

Harold's Spicy Habanero Pickles

I have two words to describe these pickles, HOT and DELICIOUS.  Did I mention hot?  These are exactly what you would expect from a Texas pickle.  Besides being spicy, they are a little on the salty side (so for pickles that is really salty), crisp and perfect for snacking!  I will be honest.  I bought these pickles because I was enticed by a whimsical label.  I am always enticed by a good whimsical label, unfortunately, this is one of the few times that buying by the label has worked out.  The company that makes Harold's pickles is called Conscious Choice Foods.  I am very anxious to try their other award winning pickles!

Big Pappa Chapstick

A couple weeks ago, I received a free sample of Van Holten's Pickle chapstick!  It was a Facebook campaign that Vanholten's ran in conjunction with Alice.com.  Now some people might question how good pickle chapstick is.  Well it moistened my lips and smelled like my favorite pickle in a pouch.  In short, it is a definite winner!

Even though the smell does make my mouth water, I did not attempt to lick it off my lips or taste it.  I do not think it is flavored like the good old lip smackers that were popular from my youth.  Everyone knows lip smackers are still around and according to Bonnie Bell's website, the big fat ones that seemed so popular in my days at Emerson Elementary, are still around.  Doing my research on this blog entry, I ran across a website that talks about retro things.  In the comments section of the website, most people admitted to occasionally taking a nibble from their lip smacker.  One of the comment's made by  a person with the clever alias of choochoo train admitted to eating a whole watermelon lip smacker then throwing it back up.  I have my suspicions that choochoo train, is not alone.  So as with most good research, it changed the direction of my question and next a googled "eating lip smackers."  There were many tales people recounted about eating their favorite chapstick.  Sometimes by nibble, sometimes by lick.  Then I ran across a very important fact:

LIP SMACKERS ARE NOT GLUTEN FREE

These days we all know people who are gluten intolerant, which makes me heart sad, but I digress.  Please don't eat your lip smackers if you are Gluten Free.  Here is a list of the Bonnie Bell products you may ingest  :)

http://eatglutenfreelikeme.blogspot.com/2010/07/lip-smackers-not-gluten-free.html

So to summarize, as you can tell, I do very scientific research for my blogs and I encourage eating chap stick.  I just hope lip smackers will start making pickled flavored lip gloss.  Until then, Van Holten's chapstick will keep my lips moist and my nose happy.

Pickles and the New Year!

Happy 2012!  A new year, new resolutions and of course new pickles!  As big pickle fans know, Mt. Olive has a pickle drop each year.  This is a family friendly event, so it actually occurs at 7:00 pm.  Here is a link to the 2009 drop:

Mt Olive Pickle Drop

Dillsburg Bourough, PA also has a pickle drop, which I just recently found out.  In fact, Dillsburg actually drops two pickles.  Miss Pickle drops at 7:00 pm est, which is midnight GMT and part of the reason Mt. Olive drops at this time, but Mr Pickle drops at midnight eastern time to ring in the real new year in this small rural town.  This year is Dillsburg's 19th drop.  While in terms of a tradition, that is not terrible old, it does seem to be a tradition the town loves and brings visitors to this small town.

Dillsburg Drop

I didn't really make any resolutions on New Year's Eve.  The year before went well for me and my family.  I am making a late resolution.  I really want to go to a Pickle Festival.  There are several to chose from, so I will have to be thinking what is the most cost effective and time effective location for me to attend.

This summer I will be visiting the Big Apple and might be able to tag a pickle festival onto that, although I know the International Pickle Festival is in the fall.  At any rate, I will figure it out.

I did want to give a shout out to the Better Cheddar.  I have ordered McClure's pickles from them before, but I actually visited the store over Thanksgiving weekend.  I usually buy my McClure's at Williams and Sonoma, where they usually only have a couple jars at a time.  The Better Cheddar had a whole wall!  They also carried the Bloody Mary Mix, the Brine and the Chips!  My mother, who is the most awesome Mom ever, got my some brine for Christmas and I gave jar of the Bloody Mary Mix, to my dear Boodly Mary drinking friend Kristin!  If you are in the Kansas City Area, this store is a must.

http://www.thebettercheddar.com/

Happy New Year all you pickle lovers!

Trader Joe's

This past weekend I took a fun trip down to Santa Fe.  While looking up things to do in Santa Fe, I discovered they have a Trader Joe's.  Denver does not have one.  I was very excited to stock up on two buck chuck and try Trader Joe's pickles.  They are suppose to be quite good.  I purchased one jar of kosher dills and one jar of sandwich stacker type pickles.  When I opened the jar of koshers, I will admit, I was a little scared.  The pickles were very, very bumpy.  Well, despite my apprehension, the pickles were delicious!  They are the perfect snack size for most people and the taste was really good.  They were not too salty, therefore you could taste flavors that you can't taste in a lot of pickles!  A bug thumbs up Joe!

Although the pickles get an A+, I am touch disappointed in two buck chuck.  Two buck Chuck is actually $2.99.  I know the argument, three buck Chuck just doesn't have the same ring. I do believe that in most California stores it is still $1.99 but it was not in Santa Fe.

In honor of $2 Chuck, I found this song by the Beatnik Turtles:
Two Buck Chuck

I hope you enjoy it!

A damn fine pickle indeed!

Let me apologize by saying this review is a touch premature.  Normally, I like to sample a couple of varaties of a brand of pickles before I write a review to make sure my opinion of the brand is not shaped by one type of pickle.  This did not happen with my latest pickle, Brooklyn Brine's NY Deli Pickles.

Brooklyn Brine is a company that was started by two metal band mates who found a mutual love of pickling.  Brooklyn Brine's mission is to make "a damn fine pickle" and I think they have succeeded in doing so.  In addition to cucumbers, they pickle other things, such as fennel beets and asparagus.  The cucumber varaties include, a damn spicy pickle, whiskey sour pickles and the NY Deli style pickles.  As I mentioned before, I had the NY Deli Style pickles.

 I bought these at Williams and Sonoma, while looking for the always sold-out McClure's.  I had read about these pickles on the Pickle Freak blog and thought I should give them a try.  I liked the label and that they are hand packed.  When I read the ingredients, two stuck out that made me immediately think I was not going to like them, sugar cane and apple cider vinegar.  I was wrong.  These pickles were not too sweet at all.  There was a hint of sugar but the apple cider vinegar made the pickles sour in a good way.  There is red pepper and other spices that made these pickles not only sour but a touch tangy.  Delicious!  I can't wait to try the other cucumbers and vegetable varieties they offer!!!

In other news, I want to give a shout out to super pickle.  As you may remember super pickle is my mascot.  He is stuffed pickle I have sitting on my desk at work.  Well this week my daughter went to a dance intensive and I thought she might need super pickle for luck, so I let her take him to New Mexico.  Well, I miss super pickle.  I hope he is enjoying Santa Fe and I hope Claire is treating him right.  I will see you soon Super Pickle!

Pickles and Soccer--a match made

Alberto and I ate lunch at a local deli on Saturday.  Alberto wanted to go there because they had a West Ham scarf in the window.  Let me explain since most American's would not understand why this is a draw.  West Ham United is an English Premier league soccer team.  (Football if you are from somewhere else.)  Alberto is a huge soccer fan and living in Colorado does run across a few Colorado Rapids fans, but rarely runs across other English premier league fans.  Sadly, this is how we pick where we are going to eat lunch.  It was easy for me to agree because they had a pickle on their sign.  How could it be all bad?

I have been to many deli's that show pickles or even have pickle in the name and they are no pickle paradise. Jimmy and Drew's was!!  First, like any good deli, they serve every sandwich with a pickle slice on the side. These are BIG pickle slices.  Bigger than some whole pickles.  We also bought a couple pickles as extras.  They had spicy, which was super delicious and regular.  Alberto, who is not really a fan of spicy pickles, said the regular pickle is the best pickle he has had in years.  As a man who probably eats more pickles than he cares to, I think this is high praise!  I ate a sandwich called the Dilly Capone!  The sign wasn't the only think with a pickle, there was a pickle paining, pickles on the table and even a pickle wreath.  I told my dear soccer loving, pickle eatin hubby that I want decorations like that, but I am scared that I would become the crazy pickle lady.  His reply, "Become the crazy pickle lady?"  :)

My husband posted this picture of me on facebook:

He captioned the picture by saying I was taking my pickle obsession to a whole new level and eating pickles for my meal now.  Silly Alberto!  I have been doing that for years.  (I did order and eat part of the Dilly Capone.)

Overall, this place is awesome and we will definitely be back.  The soccer stuff was cool, the pickles were whimsical and delicious and it was a local establishment which is always good.  Oh yeah, the sandwiches were okay too!  :)

The USA and pickles

Happy Belated 4th of July.  This year was a particularly good holiday for me.  I ate numerous pickles and enjoyed the company of good friends.  I had ambitions of dying my pickles red white and blue, but alas, it didn't get done.  I do have some fun pickle/America facts:

In 1492, Columbus gave pickles to his crew to prevent scurvy.  When I read this fact, I was a little baffled.  I thought scurvy was a lack of vitamin C.  So, I Googled it and found out I was indeed correct.  Here is what I didn't know, cucumbers have vitamin C.  I am a little sad by my lack of food knowledge.  At any rate, it is another good reason to eat pickles and now I can tell people it is part of the reason America is what it is today because of pickles.

Another fun America/pickle fact is Amerigo Vespucci, who it is widely believed that the Americas are named, was a pickle merchant.  I guess he gave up the pickle biz to sail around the world and steal maps from Columbus, but it is important to note that he spent time contributing to society, by selling pickles!

I tried to find a picture of a red, white and blue pickle but was unable to do so.  Instead I found a sign with a pickle and the USA on it.  Lil Pickle USA subs is a sandwich shop in Costa Mesa, CA.  I haven't ever been there, but I bet it is good!  :)

Pickle 2.0 and purses...

Alberto says I am the world's worst blogger.  I told him between raising two kids, holding a full time job, being Booster Club secretary, hanging with our neighbors, traveling for family, traveling for dance and driving the kids around I hardly have time to eat pickles, forget about writing about them!  Really, I am not quick on my feet, so I said, "I know."

Let me start by saying that Jenny's pickles has EXCELLENT customer service.  Miss Jenny read my blog, sent me new pickles and apologized for the previous jars.  Two thumbs up for Miss Jenny's pickles.  Since the event occurred so long ago, I cannot re-review them at this time, but will order from them again.  Customer service like that does not happen in this day and age.  As extra incentive to order from them, they are offering free shipping over the summer to all orders over $25!  Everyone should take advantage of this:
http://www.missjennyspickles.com/

My family recently visited the Lone Star state.  While we were there, my daughter and I did our requisite vacation shopping.  Claire and I went into the Coach store at the Barton Creek Mall in Austin, TX.  My old coach purse is starting to show signs of wear and my fashion conscious 14 year old pointed out all my other handbags are winter colors.  Claire also really does not like that I usually carry such big bags.  She is pretty happy that my current Coach is small.  The problem with this, is that my current Coach Purse can hold exactly one pickle.  If I need to carry a jar, like most of the time, Blue Betty (yes I name my handbags) does not do the trick.  Claire thinks the bigger back I carry, the more junk I carry.  That is probably true, but for me it is all about pickle capacity.  This was my choice:

This is the bag we compromised on.  One jar capacity with little extra room for junk.  After our big debate and our compromise I didn't buy it.  Why, you may ask since it was perfect?  I am cheap.  So many pickles could be bought with $350.  So instead I went down to Williams and Sonoma and bought McClure's instead.  (Yeah for this, our Williams and Sonoma NEVER has them on the shelves!)  I will find a bag at Target with a one jar capacity that costs less than $30.

Any purse suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  

Pickle parties

There are so many reasons to have a pickle party.  As I have mentioned before, my neighbor Kevin, makes a good pickle.  This year, all of our neighbors got together and pickled together.  Now whenever the neighbors get together we usually open a jar or two of the ones we have made.  This week we opened some of Steve and Kathy's.  It is official, of all the jars we pickled this year, Kathy's were the yummiest.  She better be careful or I might raid her garage in the middle of the night.

Here is Steve with this year's best jar!

As some of you may know, my birthday just past.  We celebrated with the neighbors and had a great time!  We also cracked open pickles that we had mixed with different types of alcohol.  I would say for the most part, it was an experiment that had gone terribly, terribly wrong.  Here is the breakdown:

Whiskey-This was one of the better ones.  They were really spicy and I couldn't tell if it was Whiskey burn or if it was because we put peppers in with the Whiskey.  When we first opened these, I could get through a whole pickles, but I wouldn't really say I ENJOYED them.  At that point, I didn't know it would get worse...MUCH  WORSE.

Tequila pickles-Not good.  One bite and that is all I could stomach.  At this point people started shying away from try anymore.

Mike's Hard Lemonade (Pomegranate Flavor)-I was hoping that this would taste like Kool aid pickles.  Sweet and Salty all mixing together in a wonderful medley.  Sadly, this was not the case and people actually started spitting out their bites.

Beer-This was surprisingly good.  Honestly, I think there was enough brine in this batch you couldn't really notice the beer flavor.  I would actually try this pickle again.

Vodka-HORRIBLE.  I don't think we put any brine in this, just vodka and the cucumber.  This does not work as well as infusing a watermelon with vodka.  It did not have a pleasant taste unless you like straight vodka and are expecting to taste straight vodka.  I will say that this was the most disappointing for me since I have had dill  infused vodka with pickles as a chaser that that was delicious!

Finally we had a jar called GOLF.  We suspect, although no one really could remember, that this was a "suicide" type drink.   We mixed a bunch together.  I will say this fell somewhere between the Vodka and the Mike's Hard which put it in the more horrible than less horrible category.  

All in all, if you are going to pickle with alcoholic beverages I would give you the following tips:

1.  Have a plan

2.  Measure and label so you know how much of what is in each jar!

3.  Use at least some brine, otherwise it is an infused cucumber

4.  Don't do it.  :)

At any rate, terrible pickles that made me sick all the next day or not, I had a great birthday!

Pickle laws

When I was young, I read a book called Pickles Must Bounce and other Wacky Laws.  The book said that in Connecticut a pickle must bounce or it will not be considered a pickle.  I tried to verify this law and if you do a Google search it appears to be true, but in reality, I could not find a source that was reliable enough to site.    I have actually a few pickles to see if they bounce and I would say bouncing is definitely relative.  You could not dribble a pickle, so it is not a replacement for the basketball.

While I was trying to figure out if the pickle law in Connecticut still existed (or ever did for that matter) I was hoping to find more laws that pertained to pickles.  Sadly it seems, pickles are mostly an unregulated industry.  Sure there are food safety standards, but nothing specifically for pickles.  In Wisconsin there was a "pickle bill" that dealt with the sale of home made goods, but yet again, not really aimed at just pickles.

So, in light of the lack of pickle laws, I will take it upon myself to fight for pickle justice.

A girl with a dream

Miss Jenny use to be a stockbroker.  Miss Jenny lost her job.  Now Miss Jenny makes pickles.  To me, this IS the American dream.
Miss Jenny's story

Watching this story, which I wish was my own, I of course ordered some right away!  I wanted to support a woman in business, especially one who is selling pickles.  Miss Jenny has four types of pickles: salt and pepper, hot salt and pepper, bread and butter and hot bread and butter.  As I have stated before, I am not a huge fan of bread and butter, I did order a jar of those just to taste, but I was very much looking forward to the salt and pepper variety.

Let's start with the good:  these pickles are all natural.  That is definitely a plus.  The two women who are partners in this company are no longer stock brokers.  I also think this is a plus, from there, it kind of goes down hill.

These were definitely the mushiest pickles I have ever eaten.  I also think they are pretty tasteless.  Even the hot pickles were pretty tasteless.  I like a pickle with bite.  Honestly, your no name brand pickles have more taste than these did.  When eaten by themselves the texture was not good, so I thought I would try it on a sandwich.  When I did that, I could barely taste them.  The bread and butter were marginally better, but as I just stated I don't love bread and butter pickles.

Sorry Miss Jenny.  I won't be carrying you in my purse.

I have been inspired...

I was dismayed at my creative juices running dry.  That is why I did not blog for a long time.  Luckily I fueled myself with some pickle juice and decided to give this another run.  I have after all been eating lots and lots of pickles over the past few months.

Just like many, many people I gained some weight over the holidays.  (Actually my weight gain started over the summer thanks to all the parties with neighborhood gang.)  So, for the first time in my life, I am going on a diet as part of my New Year's resolution.  I have been on many diets in my day, but felt it should never be my New Year's resolution because it is just too trite.  This year was different, because I could not stand looking at myself any longer.  So for the past two weeks I have been thinking about what plan is best for me, Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers.  By this point, I am sure some of you have guessed, I think I am going to try the Pickle Diet!

So I googled the pickle diet and what I found out was, you eat three meals a day and every time you want a snack you eat a pickle!  Well that is no good, that is what I do anyway.  So upon further research I found this:
http://www.fatsecret.com/Community.aspx?pa=fp&t=35625

That pickle diet basically says all you eat are pickles and drink water and you will lose weight.  Now that is my kind of diet.  The only problem is that did not seem very sustainable in the long term.   hmmmm.....Maybe I need to give this more thought.

2011 here I come a bloggin and eating pickles!

A long awaited pickle...

FINALLY, FINALLY I got my hands on some McClure's pickles!  I did not want to commit ordering a case so I tried our local retailer, WIlliams and Sonoma.  I went in just expecting I could pick them up, but they told me as soon as they are in they sell out, so I had them take my name and number and call me when they come in.  Twice I did this because they never called.  Finally I ordered them from a place in Kansas City called The Better Cheddar.  They were also sold out, but did ship me some as soon as they got some in!  Thank goodness.  

I have read all over the place these are the best pickles out there.  The first jar I tried was the Garlic Dill pickles.  These pickles were good.  They were crisp and had a strong garlic flavor.  Honestly, they were solidly good, but did not knock my socks off.  There was a little tang that made me crave them through out the day, but at $12 a jar Claussen are a solid substitute.  The brine was delicious though.  This is the best brine I have ever taken a sip of.  I still can't justify putting them in regular rotation at $12 a jar.  

McClure's is a company that started in Detroit Michigan.  There is a lot I like about this company.  They use local produce when they can, and when it is not possible they talk to the farmer to ensure the best product.  They hand slice their pickles, which I believe for two reasons, the pickles in my jar were many different sizes.  Not the cucumber, the actual slices.  Some where spears, others were more like halves, much like someone doing them at home!  The other interesting tidbit about this company is that it is owned by two brothers.  One of whom is a doctoral student and the other is an actor.  Yet again, the entertainment business ties in with pickles.  I think people often think of aspiring actors/actresses/directors, as wait staff, but apparently they also have a strong presents in the Pickle industry!  

Here is a commercial that Bob, one of the co-founders is in:

Fried Pickles

Pickles are a tasty low calorie snack.  So if you are watching your weight, they have minimal calories and can really hit the spot.  Of course, it might just be too much to have a healthy snack so you can also fry up your pickles and take your low cal munchie into a grease infested delight!

As you can probably guess I have had quite a few fried pickles and as much as I love pickles, I don't love friend pickles.  I like them, but do not love them.  Today, I found one I love!  Smashburger has delicious fried pickles.  As I have started writing this blog I have discovered what I like and what I don't like in a pickle.  Well I am starting to understand what I like and what I don't like in a fried pickle too.   At Smashburger the pickles were a good quality deli-type slice.  The breading was crisp and it was not too greasy.  I think the crisp breading really made a difference.  Hooters also has fried pickles but every time I have eaten them they are swimming in grease and inevitably give me a stomach ache.  The pickle was tangy and was not overpowered with the breaded taste.  It was a great balance.  

An added bonus is that they have a buttermilk ranch that is very good to dip the pickles.  I enjoyed the fried pickles without the ranch, but thought the ranch was good enough to use for fries, burger, etc.  So, if you have to have something to dip your pickles in, the ranch is definitely a plus!

According to wikipdeia the fried pickle was popularized by Burnell "Fatman" Austin at the Duchess Drive In.  The Duchess Drive in was located in Arkansas in the town of Atkins.  Atkins was home to the Atkins pickle plant and was said to be right across the street from the Duchess Drive In.  Atkins was dubbed "Pickle City USA" and had a pickle fest each year.  It seems very fitting this would be the home of the fried pickle.  Sadly, the Pickle plant changed ownership many times and finally in 2002, Dean foods closed the plant.  The building the Pickle Plant was in is now home to Dean's processed foods, that sells chicken.  I can't find info on the Duchess Drive In, leading me to believe it has closed, but luckily the Picklefest seems to still be in exsitance.  So, I might take a trip to Arkansas next spring!

The Last of my Rick's Picks

Today I ate the Bee n Beez.  These are Rick's bread and butter pickles.  I do like some bread and butter pickles but they typically are not my favorite.  These bread and butter pickles are very unusal and very very tasty.  Like Rick's other pickles, they are flavored differently than what you would find in the grocery store.  In Bee-n-Beez there are red pepper flakes, turmeric and dried cherries!  The outcome is sweet, but not disgustingly so and not like any other bread and butter pickle I have ever had.  The serving suggestion says to pair them with grilled cheese, which I will absolutely do, because they really compliment the taste of cheddar cheese!  If you are not typically a bread and butter fan, give these a try.  

That rounds out all the Rick's picks I ordered.  There are a couple varieties that I will have to order next time and I plan on moving into other "pickles" that Rick has, like the Curried Green Tomato Pickle.  My conclusion about Rick's Picks?  He is an interesting guy who makes good pickles.  Rick's picks are Abby's picks too!  :)  (For the record Claire begged me not to say that!)

My Great Uncle John, who is definintely not old enough to be my great uncle, sent me a couple stories about pickling and pickles from NPR today.  When I started this experiment I thought I would just eat a bunch of pickled cucumbers, which is still my main intent, but there is a whole world of pickling out there that I need to explore.  This article, coupled with Rick's pickling videos, have inspired me to just start throwing things into jars and pour brine over them!  

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129402166

Before we went to NY this summer, John, the aforementioned uncle, sent me a link to the Pickle guys and said we should visit their shop.  Well while we were in NY, we never made it.  NPR did a nice segment on the Pickle Guys though.  As I told John this morning, I really wish I had started this project before we went to NYC.  New York is like a pickle Shangri-La.  

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113763154

On the lower east side there is a neighborhood that is called the Old Pickle district.  While all but the Pickle Guys have moved out the fact that New York had a pickle district speaks volumes about what a strong pickling tradition they have.  Next time I am in NY I will know better how to spend my time.  Forget the Empire State Building, Lady Liberty or the New Yankee stadium, I will be on the search for the city's best pickles!

Fall is in the air

Rick is three for three

I just ate a Kool Gerk.  Kool is the perfect description.  There is a nice dill flavor and a hint of cinnamon.  Rick has serving suggestions on his website I always like to check out.  With this pickle, he suggests  sipping the brine as a digestive aid.  I thought all pickle juice was a digestive aid.  I guess this is better because it is definitely less salty.  I have been really pleasantly surprised by all the low sodium pickles.  I am a salt lover.  I thought I would really miss the salt.  These pickles are delicious and don't raise my blood pressure by the minute.  I know my next 5k, Rick's will be the night before snack so my hands do not end up as balloons again!  

I am getting excited for pickling season!  Rick has given me new ideas as to what makes a good pickle.  I have tastes that I am going to try!  A pickle is not all about the salt and vinegar, the brine can be so much more.  As I have mentioned, like many children, I like to drink pickle juice!  Well, after I make pickles, I have found a bottle to transport around my juice!

With football season upon us, I am looking for pickle based appetizers.  If you can think of any, let me know.  When all else fails, I can just poke some sticks into pickles and I have instant picklecicles, but I would like something a little more creative than that!  

Finally, it is also the start of school for a lot of kiddos.  I have one this year in her last year of middle school and one starting kindergarten.  The start of school is fun for a lot of reasons, you see your friends again, the weather starts cooling down, you get new clothes and of course new teachers, etc.  This year I am a little sad though.  I wish we lived in Austin, Texas.  Right now I feel like my kids might be going to the wrong school and not getting the education that aligns with my values!  They need to be at Pickle Elementary School:

http://www.austinisd.org/schools/website.phtml?id=095