Homemade Pickles

In the past month or so, I have really been trying to make-from-scratch most everything I can. In the midst of all of this homemaking in the kitchen, I discovered  that I really enjoy canning! I've only canned once before and that was some fabulous strawberry-blueberry preserves. I plan on making that in the very near future. I don't know why I haven't discovered this joy of canning before, but better late than never I suppose!

Recently, I made Bread and Butter Pickles. These were incredibly easy and so very tasty!  The only thing I will do differently next time is to use bigger canning jars! :)

Thanks to my cucumber supplier, NJPR, for these fabulous cukes! :)

 Cutting the onions, which leads to:

This horribly frightening picture of the after effects of cutting onions while not taking LW's advice and swiping my kids' swim goggles for use while cutting. Teary eyes, dark circles and no makeup-OH MY!!! Moving on.....

I have also found that I really enjoy taking pictures of food. I enjoy the food prep, the cooking and the "plating". :)

Lovely salt covered cucumbers and onions!

Getting ready for the liquid goodness...:)

Boil for three minutes....

Stuffing my cucumber/onion mixture into the jars.....

Sweet cucumbers waiting to take their boiling dip (aka-processed).

Processing....

The final product. I am so proud of these and they are so dang yummy.

Blueberry Picking-"I'll blog about that."

I had an awesome opportunity to go blueberry picking with two amazing gals-kid free!!  We had so much fun! (The above picture just shows how many blueberries are still getting ripe! There are plenty more for the picking!!)

One of my dear friends, R, is married to a hard-core blueberry picker. She mentioned that one season, he picked fourty pounds just by himself alone. That is a true lover of the fruit!!

So, I am pretty sure that (the picture above) this would make him proud. We pulled down many a branch to get the biggest, juiciest berries!!! Talk about team work!!!

The conversation was great and the company was even better, but the price: FANTASTIC!! We did have to suffer through the hot, humid (which means sticky) southern summer but it was totally worth it.  We were attacked (not really) by a few bugs and I pelted a few unworthy-of-my-bowl berries at R and A. :) I felt like I smelled even though I had a shower an hour before. My clothes were saturated with sweat, but my soul was full of joy after another fun time spent with friends.

I ended up with 10lbs. I gave around half to my mother. I have now a gallon and a half frozen in my freezer. I do plan on going back as soon as I can to get some more. I really do love blueberries and they are so versitle,not to mention the nutritional and health benefit of these awesome little balls of goodness!!!

I almost feel a bit Gump-like when asked what I am going to do with my blueberries. I will make blueberry jam, blueberry fruit leather, blueberry muffins, blueberry pancakes and the list goes on and on. :)  I found a fantastic site that has a TON (and I mean a TON) of recipes using blueberries. They have everything from Spicy Blueberry Barbecue Sauce to Blueberry Cheesecake Pie.

 Blueberry Council has salads, desserts, beverages and even sauces-all centered around the blueberry!!

I am looking forward to getting back to this patch very soon to pick more blueberries. I hope that the next time will be just as fun as the first!