Hi y'all!

I just always wanted to say that. It's not like I'm in the south or anything like that. Maybe it's my affinity for pulled pork, Cheerwine and county fairs that made me say that. In any case, here I am writing a pickle blog. Well, I should be clear-I just mean something from a canning jar or bottle that I made myself, which includes, pickles, conserves, jam, liqueur, whatever it is that peaks my fancy. Every year, I feel a strong desire to swathe every fruit and vegetable handy in vinegar, sugar and spices. But then something happens...the season comes to an end, a long, cold winter ensues, the hustle and bustle of holidays creeps in, and I have no imagination for actually using my canned stuff. The HORROR! The truth of the matter is that I live with my husband who abhors all pickles, conserves, jellies, jams and anything that comes out of a canning jar, so for the most part, this will be a blog about cooking and canning.

So, to start, I love being in the kitchen. I feel quite at home there, and honestly think that cooking for 12 is a hell of a lot easier than cooking for one. As a matter of fact, cooking for two should be easier than cooking for one, but not if the other person doesn't eat anything that you do. I live in a sweltering apartment in a big city, (it's pretty much 90 in the winter because of the steam heat and 90 in the summer with no AC). My aspirations for lacto-fermenting things are pretty much on hold until we have a place with a cool area year-round. That is unless I can get my dad to rig my old igloo refrigerator cooler to become a friendly bacteria incubator at 72 degrees. Sourheads (fermented cabbages, that is) here I come!

Now for the nitty gritty, inventory. In my cupboard right now I believe I have a few pints of fig/lavender conserve, 3 jars of peach orange blossom jelly, one pint of sage, rosemary and thyme jelly, 2 quarts of dilly spears and two jars of seriously spicy Asian plum conserve. The hardest part for me is figuring out what to do with all this stuff.

As I type this, I want to consider something else. My refrigerator. What do I actually use and what for? I love pickled jalapenos. Definitely a couple of pints of those for me. No Mexican feast is complete without them in my mind, and though they only cost a few bucks in the supermarket, I might as well make my own. My dilly spears won first place in the county fair a few years ago, and I think that was my crowning glory, (well, except for winning a blue ribbon for my wedding dress...) but since I still have two big quarts of them, I'll have to sit on it for a bit. Salsa is a tough one. I definitely use it and want to make it from scratch, but I still haven't found a home canning recipe that I'd like to dip my tortillas in. Maybe I'll work on that for the fair this year. Gherkins are something I'd like to have a can or two lying around for those weird moments I crave liverwurst and rye, but I'll have to see if I can find them at the supermarket. Red cabbage with apples is a favorite, as are pickled beets, so I think I'm putting them on my list, too. Mustard, too. I almost created an apocalypse the other night when I realized there was no mustard for my weiners. At least 2 different kinds. And what do you know, here's a Jack Daniel's recipe that looks enticing. Tomato sauce. Here'a a big one. I would love to make some sauce, about 20 quarts if I can muster up the will-power. We'll see how that goes. And barbeque sauce. We definitely use that here.

It seems I have rambled on a bit, which is completely normal for me. It's nice to be here on my new blog about cooking and I'm sure I'll have lots to say tomorrow :)