pickles

Pickles~ another reason my husband upgraded me from girlfriend to wife.

I’m pretty sure I did a pickles post before… and told you the story of how it was one of the things that impressed my then-boyfriend, he had never had homemade pickles before.

The reason I am re-posting it, it because these babies make awesome Christmas gifts. And, now that’s it’s November 1st, it’s officially time to start planning. Because I don’t want you stressed out on December 19th. I want you to be happy, relaxing with a hot buttered rum and an appetizer plate by a cozy fire. I want you to have your stuff done by December 19th. So… each day I am going to give you a little tip or hint or holiday idea. And, tell you where my progress is, too.

So far? I have 3 toys on layaway at Walmart. Today I’m going to Kmart, since Walmart only lets you layaway toys, electronics and jewelry…. I’m going to Kmart to layaway the other stuff. Yes, layaway. I don’t want to be paying on Christmas in March. In case you don’t know what layaway is… you basically load up a cart of stuff, take it to a counter and pay 10%. They hold it for you, and you make payments until it’s paid off. Then you take your stuff home.

And… no bills in the new years. Woo-hoo!

But, I’m a big fan of handmade meaningful gifts. Unfortunately, my girls won’t get excited about a basket filled with homemade pickles and crackers.

They’re kids.

The original recipe called for 10lbs of cucumbers… I only had 5.

They were .99 a pound, and the vinegar was 2/1.00. I think this entire recipe cost me 8 bucks.

If you’ve never done any canning before, it’s really easy and fun. It’s nice to see the jars lined up… gives you that “homey” feeling. No, not homey da clown…. the other homey feeling.

Basically, what you do:

sterilize jars & lids/bands

clean and slice cukes

boil your liquid (vinegar, salt, water, spices)

pack jars with cukes

fill with liquid

process (which means place in your canner for the right amount of time)

My 8 dollar investment made four small, and two large jars. Find a cool basket, or make a covered box add some cheese, crackers, cookies….and you have a mighty fine gift for your cousin Nelly. Or uncle Bob and Aunt Mary.