I love pickles. I prefer dill pickles…and they need to crunch. Those who know me, and more specifically, know my father, accept that we make the Best Pickles in the World. That’s right…THE best pickles in the world. Every Saturday in August we would head to the farmers market and buy out the entire cucumber selection from our favorite farmer (I heard this year’s crop was destroyed by a late summer hail storm!) The smell of vinegar would fill the house for days and within a week the 15 jars on the counter would cloud over and the lids would come off. Every jar would be gone in three days only to be filled again the following Saturday. The secret to the crunch (I should not be admitting) is to soak the cucumbers in ice water before beginning the process.
A month or so ago, I got to hang out with Wall Street Journal reporter Ana Campoy and photograph a canning class. It was fun despite the different pickle recipe. The process I shot was for instant pickling as opposed to the fermenting process I would work on with dad. The pickles weren’t dill and didn’t crunch…but they were still tasty. I suppose that is the magic with canning…everyone has their own recipe and cans in their own distinct style. They also made jam…but the peaches weren’t really ripe.
The story was highlighting the reemergence of canning in the US. You know…slow economy…people have to can right? I was talking with my mom about the story and she more or less…well more than less…laughed at me when I mentioned “reemergence.” She reminded me that we have been canning for the past twenty years. It made me think there really hasn’t been a rebirth of canning, so much as simply an idea to market canning in a slow economy.
It is a little late this season to start canning, but I know next year I will be buying a set of jars and lids to begin the long tradition of canning that already exists in my family.
You can check out the Wall Street Journal canning article and slide show online here.
***So…after hearing critiques from EVERY immediate family member, I find it necessary to make a few corrections and revisions. In so doing, I hope to successfully mock each member of my family for taking such an interest in my blog, and inadvertently mock myself for writing this very sentence.
My dad would like to point out that we do not, in fact, make dill pickles, but rather Sour Garlic Pickles. He also would prefer me to use the word “preserve” instead of repeating “can.” His only other objection was to give more credit to my mother as the one who picks out the pickles and thus make it truly a family affair.
While my mother enjoyed my embellishments, she was just quick to point out (and certainly enjoyed pointing out) my grammar and spelling errors as only a mother can.
My brother was quick to call me out as a phony (my real job was to simply eat the pickles.)
Lastly, and in my opinion, most obvious, I am a nerd. Yes, yes I am.
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