The thought of canning seemed intimidating (what with dials and knobs and boiling water and botulism), so I took a basics class at a local farm. Turns out, both the class and the chore were easy and delightful. So now that I feel no fear of large steel pressurized pots, I've decided I can can. I will can.
I'm currently in Oklahoma with my parents drooling over my dad's exceptionally beautiful and abundant garden. I swear his plants come out of the ground throwing squash, zucchini, peppers and corn at him. We are in the (literal and figurative) heat of cucumber season and his bucket runneth over. I've desperately tried to eat them all. I've even contemplated slicing them over my morning bowl of Kashi. But it appears that the only way to prevent waste (the horror) is to put them in a can. Since I'm new to the sport, I picked a simple, 5-ingredient waterbath recipe called "Best-Ever Dill Pickles." Prep time: 30 minutes. Processing time: 10 minutes. It goes like this:
In the beginning, there were jars.
In the middle, there was a lot of slicing.
In the end, there were pickles.
Then, I cheated. The directions say to wait one week before opening, but that must be only for those who have made their own pickles before or who possess more will-power than this first-timer. The result? Delicious. Simple. Plentiful. Will need garlic. (But then, really, doesn't everything?)
This summer, I have dreams of a pantry full of jars filled with all things strange and sloshy. And no blue boxes. My kids can thank me later.
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