"homemade pickles" news and stories

Photo: you can count on me, Flickr.

National Pickle Day may yet be a couple of months away, but now's the time to start perfecting your technique, as did Flickr user "You Can Count on Me." Though the pickles themselves aren't even pictured, their zingy brine looks promising, with masses of fiery floating peppercorns and sprigs of dill.

Treasured for their tangy flavor alone, pickles boast both a historic background and surprising health benefits. Vitamin-C rich pickles were packed on Christopher Columbus's fateful voyage to help the seamen fight scurvy -- and actually take their name from the ship's stocker, Amerigo Vespucci. Today, the fermented fruits are considered extra nutritious for allowing bacteria the time to create additional vitamins and are in fact more easily digested than their non-treated counterparts. So get pickling!

Check out more pickle trivia at the Science of Pickles and try the pictured recipe from blog Everybody Likes Sandwiches.

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Homemade pickles. Photo: melsands, Flickr

August may mark the end of peak cucumber season, but that's no reason to be sad -- it's also the perfect time to stock, slice and pickle the green veggies, whether they're 2-inches or 2-feet long.

These pickles, made and taken by Flickr user melsands, were jarred with dill, coriander, allspice, garlic and fennel seeds. While they were probably intended to go on a sandwich, we'd be tempted to pluck each perfectly pickled cucumber chip straight from the jar until all that's left is just enough juice left to pickle another batch.

[Via Flickr]

Become a member of the Slashfood Flickr pool to get a shot at having your photos featured in Feast Your Eyes.

These waning days of summer bring out the country housewife in me (as much as is possible for an unmarried girl in Center City Philadelphia). I have a satisfyingly large stash of homemade jam tucked away under my dining room credenza and I've got three quarts of blueberries stashed away in the freezer. However, I've been looking at all the gorgeous Kirby and Gherkin cucumbers (as well as all the fantastic beets, carrots and string beans) at the farmers market and thinking idly about the possibility of turning them into pickles for munching into the fall and winter.

Kitt posted this picture, of her jar of refrigerator pickles that she threw together in order to use up some leftover dill. My pickle urges are getting stronger.

Thanks Kitt, for adding such a tempting pic to the pool!

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I have a theory that the summer, more than any other season, brings out the homesteader in many of us. There's this primal tug to gather up all the summer fruits and vegetables and put them "up" for winter. Personally, I've made canned cherries, plum jam and peach butter so far this year, and I'm hoping to make some blackberry jam as well before the season is out. I've also got a bag of kirbies in the fridge right now that are waiting to become a batch of pickles. I was planning on stirring up an asian-inspired brine, but having seen these rosemary garlic spears that Kelly made, I'm now thinking that I should follow her lead and go with those flavors. I'm certain that no matter what I do, they're sure to be delicious.

Thanks Kelly, for adding your pic to the Slashfood pool.

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