My little warrior found a bag of marshies yesterday and helped himself. He’s trouble with a capital T. My mom & grandmother will be journeying down to the Deep South from Illinois tomorrow to keep the rovers for MANY days while I am away. I warn Mom often that the children, although mostly sweet, can also be rotten. This includes the Rover. I feel inclined to leave notes in drawers and behind cabinets to warn them of things that might make them a little crazy…
- as soon as you pour their juice in a cup and hand it to them they will get upset and want a different cup
- as soon as you pour orange juice in their cup they will want apple juice
- as soon as you hand them the princess fork they will want the Dora fork
- as soon as you put them in shorts they will decide they want to wear a dress
- as soon as you take Rover’s diaper off he will tee tee all over the floor and has been known to poop as well
- Rover doesn’t really like words, he prefers animal sounds and all of his animals are half-bred dinosaurs so every animal has a “roooaaarrr” to it… even the cows sound ferocious
- be prepared for at lots of wardrobe changes
- Rover can climb the bar stools and then climb onto the counter top
- Paige likes bandaids and will likely have lots of “boo boos” that need bandaids
If you can figure out how to remedy all of these things before I get back, I’d LOVE it!
I can’t tell you how excited I am about first our weekend away {Justin and I without kids} and then the big journey to Italy but I also feel inclined to share that traveling, packing, thinking about leaving my children for what seems like will be forever has totally thrown me for a loop! I’m hoping the weekend of relaxation will prepare me for the BIG trip! I know for certain I will miss the fire out of Justin and the rovers… my goodness do I love them all with every ounce of my being!
My little ole laptop will be staying here, safe and sound where she belongs! I hope to post a few mobile uploads while I’m away and give at least a couple updates! And now… moving on to pickles! Was that a good transition?
Last summer I tried to share a few of my favorite summer garden recipes: Cucumber Dill Spread, Squash Casserole, Chicken Delight, & Baked Butternut Squash. So, I thought I’d continue the tradition this summer. My master gardener brought home about 4 pounds of cucumbers yesterday from our garden. I think we got a little over zealous with the cucumbers this year; we have 15 plants! Anyway, last night after the kids were in bed we had a hot date in the kitchen making refrigerator pickles and you just have to trust me on this one… they are DELICIOUS!!! We went for a slightly sweet dill recipe and we have the most delicious, crunchy, sweet, tangy pickles and I wish you all could come by to try them. {Recipe posted below with our modifications noted!}
We started with 4 pounds of cucumbers. We just used regular ole’ cukes from our garden. Not pickling cucumbers.
Four pounds of cucumbers yielded 10 pints of pickles.
This recipe does not call for the cucumbers to be cooked or processed in a water bath… this keeps them fresh and crunchy but also means they should be stored in the refrigerator where they will last several weeks.
We packed each jar with thinly sliced Vidalia onions and cucumbers.
The recipe calls for fresh dill but I was fresh out of fresh dill so I used Watkin’s organic dill that I had in the cabinet and it worked great. I sprinkled 1/2 to 1 tsp on top of every jar.
You bring the apple cider vinegar, water, sugar and spices to a boil on the stove top and then pour it directly over the cucumbers and onions.
The recipe calls to leave them uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours before putting the lids on them. Your entire fridge will smell like pickles…
And speaking of lids, I found these gems at Walmart. I’m not sure where I’ve been but for some reason these have eluded me. They are brilliant.
I can’t decide if it’s appropriate to share that we ate an entire jar at dinner tonight?
Here’s the recipe {with my notes/modifications in BOLD} from Bon Appetit:
Slightly Sweet Dill Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
* 1 small sweet onion (such as Vidalia or Maui), thinly sliced
* 2 pounds medium pickling cucumbers, scrubbed, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds {we used regular ole cucumbers}
* 1 large bunch dill, coarsely chopped (stems included) {used dried}
* 1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds {used 1 tsp of mustard powder}
* 2 teaspoons whole white peppercorns {could only find black}
* 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar {we increased this to 2 cups}
* 1 cup water {increased to 1 1/2 cups}
* 1 cup sugar
* 3 tablespoons coarse kosher salt
* 2 teaspoons dill seeds
{We doubled this recipe and it yielded 10 pints but there wasn’t near enough liquid… so be sure to make note of changes above}
Preparation
* Divide sliced onion between two 1-quart wide-mouth glass jars. Pack cucumber slices horizontally in jars. Top each jar with dill.
* Using mortar and pestle or resealable plastic bag and mallet, crush mustard seeds and peppercorns together. Place crushed spices in medium saucepan. Add vinegar, 1 cup water, sugar, coarse salt, and dill seeds. Bring mixture to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.
* Ladle mixture evenly over cucumbers. Leave jars uncovered and chill 24 hours.
* Cover glass pickle jars tightly with lids. Do Ahead: Can be made 1 week ahead.
* Keep refrigerated.
You should try them, they are delicious! Ok, hope to get one more post in before I head across the pond!
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