Living in a farmhouse is magical, and I dare say, transformational. I mean really, I made pickles this last week. I haven't made pickles for, oh, just YEARS, and yet here they are, inspired by something so innocent as a dinner inviation from the kindest of neighbors.
Vance and Joan live in a lovely little ranch house on 10 beautiful acres just next door. That very first morning in our new home, Mr. Wonderful and I were happily padding about in jammies, he frying up bacon in the old cast iron skillet, and me whisking eggs and cheese to be scrambled. We were pretty surprised to hear our doorbell ring, and yet, jammies and all, I answered it to find two smiling faces bearing a fresh loaf of the most heavely banana bread. I don't think breakfast had ever tasted so good as that morning, the early sun was streaming into our home, I had poured fresh orange juice into vintage glasses, and Mr. Wonderful heaped eggs and crispy bacon onto china plates for each of us, fresh espresso, and a thick slice of banana bread slathered in real butter to top it off. Heaven.
So, when Joan's dinner invitation came a few weeks later, I wanted to return the kindness with an offering of my own, but what? hmmm...
Several weeks ago a lovely friend had brought over her own housewarming gift, a bouquet of wildflowers and a box of fresh homegrown vegetables, peas, tomatoes, sweet carrots, fingerling potatoes, and cucumbers, bumply, lovely cucumbers. I could make pickles. I had an onion, and some shallots, and a lovely red pepper, and... oh dear, WHERE did I unpack the dill and pickling spices.. and the vinegar, did I have cider vinegar???
Having found all the supplies I thought I would need, I dug out my favorite yelloware bowl, tied on a bright, vintage apron, found a big wooden spork, and the giant cutting board, and began slicing to my heart's content - 4 big cucumbers, one fat red pepper, 8 shallots, 4 slices of a sweet onion, and two long italian hot peppers from the deli counter. Everything into the bowl... topped off with one cup of white sugar, two tablespoons of dill and two tablespoons of pickling spice.
Oh my, cloves, cinnamon, bay, allspice, foenugreek (yes, that's how it is spelled, and I have no idea what it is), mustard seed, ginger, black pepper, cassia (Chinese cinnamon) and celery seed. It smelled so good, and when I stirred it all together the rich aroma rising from the bowl just filled the room.
Now add two cups of either white or cider vinegar. I like cider vinegar, I think it is milder and has a richer flavor than white, and I just so happened to have exactly two cups.
... and then it hit me. The only thing missing was a nice glass of wine, and since I had a Twilight series movie playing in the background, I thought this vintage with its rather vampire-ish, gothic label might be just right. (sip) Yes, that will do very well, thank you.
Can you smell this? Not the wine silly, but the sugar, vinegar and heavenly spices? In a few hours the veggies will "wilt" and soften in the broth, and they will be ready to eat, but you can keep them in the refrigerator for several weeks... if they last that long!
Okay, now back to the pantry I went.... I know I have some nice canning jars in here someplace ... now where were they? Oh yes, this one will be perfect.
I confess, my Grandmother would have placed each pickle carefully into the jar, layering them just so, until there were as many pickles neatly packed into the container as it could hold... but I just piled them haphazardly, thinking more about getting a bit of each colorful veggie into the mix, topping it off with that nice big sweet/hot italian pepper and some extra broth.
A strip of calico fabric, a twig of silk flower, a colorful cotton dishcloth I'd knit up during one of my long work trips to the lower 48 states, and oh, I do hope Joan loves this.
Later, after a lovely dinner of pot roast, potatoes, roasted carrots, and apple cake with our newest friends, I sat out on the back deck, the evening sun still shining in the 22 hours of daylight that is the Alaska's summer, and cut up the last of the veggies and put them into the left over broth.
Truffles, our 20 lb Maine Coon kitten (he's only 10 months old) decided what I was doing was more interesting than chasing the bugs in the yard, and hopped up beside me to inspect.
... and finding nothing to his liking, scampered off to bother one of the girl kitties.
Blessings to you all Dear Ones ~
....eileen
your photos and description of your pickles is making my mouth water. YUMMY!
Posted by: Debbie | Saturday, October 08, 2011 at 01:54 PM
your photos and description of your pickles is making my mouth water. YUMMY!
Posted by: Debbie | Saturday, October 08, 2011 at 01:54 PM
What a delightful post-the pickles in that vintage jar look divine and I bet even taste better. Country living at its best. My daughter just moved to upstate NY in the country and yes I agree it is a different world, getting back to basics and living a dream! Enjoy your new home-I just bet you will be "baking/cooking up a storm" now.
God Bless
Joie de Vivre
Posted by: JoieDeVivre | Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 04:52 PM
Lovely, lovely, lovely.
Posted by: Elizabeth | Monday, September 26, 2011 at 04:03 AM