Do the Can Can

What can you do with such a beautiful bounty of vegetables? You can can. It is scary but I was assured by this book that it is not rocket science. It is some kind of science but no rockets are involved.

First things first, I had to acquire the right equipment. It actually took me about a week to find a stock pot that was the right size and also worked on our crazy induction stovetop. Target to the rescue (as usual) and I was ready to go (and also shaking in my boots). At first I didn't realize why I was so scared of canning but I developed a list:

• It is cooking. I love to bake but I am terrified of cooking
• It seemed fast paced
• There is so much to go wrong
• I won't know if something is wrong until I open the jar
• I may poison my friends
• I may poison myself
• I may burn myself
• The name doesn't make sense to me (you use jars, not cans)
• There is a lot of prep work involved

I decided to dive in and face my fears. Turns out it is a combination of fast paced moments but also a lot of waiting. There is a lot of prep work but with the right music on it is sort of fun. I have burned myself but that probably would have happened regardless. There is endless potential for disaster but that is life. The poisoning is still a concern but that is a risk we will all have to take. I promise to taste everything first. The name still bothers me though.

First I made some simple salsa with tomatoes from a friend's garden and jalapeños from my own. Not too difficult and not too scary. Next I made mango chili butter because mangoes were on sale at the grocery store. Other than peeling pounds and pound of mangoes, it wasn't too difficult either! Success!

Then came the pickles. I recently made refrigerator bread and butter pickles with cucumbers from my garden and they turned out great. I assumed that meant that I could use any old cucumbers for any old pickle recipe. Wrong. So wrong. I made spicy dill pickles and everything went along fine, until I took one out of the jar to taste it. It was floppy. It was soft. There are a million jokes to be had here but I wouldn't touch them with a foot-long floppy pickle. Yuck. Out they went.

It seems I have caught the canning bug. And it is labor day weekend so what a better way to celebrate than laboring over a hot stove full of jars?

Over in the garden

Purple Peppers!

Eggplant Flowers

Crazy Cucumbers

We have a garden that is looking beautiful. Some smart friends and I decided that we could get a greater variety of summer produce if we each planted different things and shared. We are so smart. It is going well but the cucumbers are growing out of control. I can't even keep up with just my share. With two cucumbers in the fridge threatening to go bad and eight thousand more on the vine, I decide I had better take action. I made pickles.

Anyone who knows me probably knows that I hate pickles. If you go out to eat with me you will find my pickle on your plate. Actually I don't usually like anything pickled. There are only two circumstances under which I like pickles. One is if they are bread and butter pickles.

Lucky for me Alton Brown had a quick bread and butter refrigerator pickle recipe. I put it all together in the morning and by afternoon they were delicious. Even better the next day on burgers. Now everyone I know will be getting a jar of pickles.

But I don't really want to turn all my cucumbers into pickles (I have thought that word every time I typed it and it is just occurring way too much in this entry. PICKLES, PICKLES, PICKLES). We have done salads and spring rolls with them but what else? What else can I do with all these cucumbers?

***I'm not kidding. I just picked 14 cucumbers. I need help.