Making Dill Pickles

I love pickles!  Dill, Sweet, Bread and Butter and Relish; I will eat them all!  The cucumbers from the orchard have been great and every time we go down to check the crops there are cucumbers.  It started out slow but recently Lisa was picking more than the both of us could eat so yesterday we decided to try our hand at making dill pickles.  Neither one of us had ever made dill pickles or any type of pickle so we decided to go easy and Lisa found an easy dill pickles recipe on Pinterest.  We went to Newport to buy what we needed and when we got back we got busy making the pickles.
The ingredients were things we mostly had already we just needed more.  We washed all the pint size, wide mouth mason jars and then started cutting up the cucumbers into spears.  After that we added the dill seed and a couple of cloves of garlic (we used minced) into each jar.  Then we took the spears and packed them into the jars.  We made a brine out of vinegar, water and kosher salt and when it came to a rolling boil we poured the brine into the jars.  We cleaned around the rim of the each jar then placed the lids on them.  This recipe called for two different ways to finish the pickles.  We decided to place two jars in the refrigerator and the rest in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes which then, after cooling, they can be stored in a cabinet up to a year.  The refrigerator ones will keep for several weeks in the fridge.  The pickles have to sit for 48 hours before eating them, for better flavor so Wednesday night at dinner we will, hopefully, be enjoying our dill pickles.  Here is the recipe for the Dill Pickles we made:

Dill Pickles
Makes 2 pint jars
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds of cucumbers
4 garlic cloves or 2 teaspoons of minced garlic
2 teaspoons dill seed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional) (we did not use)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons of pickling salt or kosher salt (we used kosher)
Equipment
Knife
Cutting board
2 wide-mouth pint jars with lids
Large pot, if canning
Directions
1. Prepare the jars-wash well, you know longer have to sterilize the jars just wash with hot soapy water.
2. Prepare the cucumbers-wash and dry the cucumbers, trim the blossom end of the cucumbers, then cut the cucumber into spears.  Make sure the spears are not too long to fit in the jar.
3. Add spices to each jar: 1 teaspoon of dill seed and two cloves of garlic or 1 teaspoon of minced garlic and 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (optional)
4. Pack the pickles into the jars-pack cucumber spears, trim ends if they stand more than 1/2 inch below the top of the jar.  Pack as tightly as you can with out smashing the cucumbers.
5. Bring the pickling brine to a boil- combine the vinegar, water and salt in a sauce pan over high heat and bring to a rolling boil.  Pout the brine over the pickles filling each jar to within 1/2 inch from the top. All the brine may not be used.
6. Remove air bubbles-gently tap the jars against the counter a few times to remove air bubbles. Top with brine is needed.
7. Tighten the lids- place the lids over the jars and screw the rings until tight/
8. Optional - Process the pickles for longer storage:
    For longer storage place the jars in a boiling pot of water. When the water comes back to a boil, set timer for 5 minutes and remove jars immediately after the 5 minutes.  Make sure the lids pop down; if they do not, refrigerate those pickles and eat them first.  
9. Cool and refrigerate- let the jars cool to room temperature:
If the jars were processed they can be placed on a shelf and will keep for at least a year on the shelf and once opened for several weeks in the fridge.
If unprocessed store the jar in the refrigerator.  The pickles will improve with flavor as they age so let them sit for at least 48 hours before opening and eating.  The refrigerator process will last several weeks in the fridge.

Check back on Thursday for an update on the pickles.  Lisa and I will have the official dill pickle tasting Wednesday night at dinner!  Maybe we will grill burgers and hotdogs so we can enjoy our homemade dill pickles on those too!

And The Crops Just Keep On Coming

Yup, this is another blog about harvesting the crops.  Well, it is just another day at the farm.  I am the official blueberry picker and so far I have managed to get blueberries every time we go down to the orchard to check the crops.  The zucchini and yellow squash have slowed down but the tomatoes and cucumbers are sill growing well.  I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a homegrown cucumber every day and all I can say is that they are delicious.  I have sliced and froze the zucchini and yellow squash I was given to use at a later time.  Tim picked some more green beans.  We had some green beans from the garden a couple of days ago and they were probably the best green beans I have ever had.  George and Tim picked a ton of grapes that Lisa is going to use to make grape jelly.  The kiwi are coming along a long with the watermelon, cantaloupe and pumpkins.  There is also one huge butternut squash that if it keeps growing will become a contender for the world's largest butternut squash.  So, it was another successful harvesting and just another day at the farm.

The Garage Gets An Attic

Tim and George worked all day putting up rafters in the garage.  It is the first step in creating storage in the garage.  The spent most of the morning putting up the rafters, which were made out of recycled wood.  After lunch they ran into town to get plywood and then finished laying the attic floor in the garage.  It was a warm day but at least they had a roof over their heads.  They finished laying the attic floor just in time for dinner.  Tomorrow they will continue on the rafters over the wood pile section of the attic.  Nice job George and Tim.  Extra storage is always good!

Quizzes On Facebook

If you follow my Travels With Ruth blog then you know that I have already posted about the quizzes on Facebook but since that blog I have found out so much more about myself, through these quizzes, that I just had to share.  The first quiz was what fictional southern woman would I be and it turns out I would be Scarlet O'Hara.  Then I wanted to find out how many times I have been reincarnated and it turns out to be 3,722 times; who knew? The next quiz I took was what color was my personality.  I am orange.  I always wondered where I would be living in 10 years and it appears I will be living in Michigan.  I am a 60's TV show master and I have a PhD; just call me Dr. Ruth!  Oh wait there is already a Dr. Ruth so I guess I you can call me Dr. Loomis!  The final quiz I took was to test my Disney IQ.  My family loves Disney and we need to get our "Disney fix" at least once a year.  So, I was very happy when I scored 100% on the Disney quiz.  I was actually compared to Walt Disney which he and I share the same birthday.  So, it was another fact learning day because if it is on the internet it has to be true, right?  HaHa!

The RV Roof Got A Facial

Tim gave the RV Roof a facial meaning he sealed the roof so it is all nice and tight and ready to withstand another year of rain, snow, acorns, hot sun and anything else Mother Nature may throw at it.  When he reseals the roof it also makes it nice and white again.  He had to wait for a dry day to do this and with all the rain we were having he decided he better do it on the first dry day where the roof was completely dry and was not going to rain for a day.  Well that day finally.  Little by little the RV will be worked on to get ready for another winter.  Now that we have gone through a winter here at the farm, and the second coldest winter in history for Eastern Tennessee, we now know a few things that will help keep the RV warmer for the winter.  Tim has just finished phase one by sealing the roof.  The other phases will be worked on through out the summer and early fall.  Check back and see what phase two is, it will be a big job!

Inside Out

Yesterday was lunch and a movie.  It has been quite aw agile since we have seen a movie so we decided to go see the Disney movie, "Inside Out".  It was very good and cute.  We have been seeing the previews of this movie for several months now.  We went to our local Movie Theater in Newport where they show first run movies and admission is $5.00 a piece.  Not bad, huh?  Before we went to the movie we had lunch at Ruby Tuesday.  I love their salad bar. Lisa and Geirge joined us so we all had a great afternoon together.  If you get a chance to see the movie.

Omaha Steaks!

Every Christmas I see the advertisements for Omaha Steaks that you can order and send as gifts or for yourself.  For $49.99 you can order 2 steaks, 4 burgers, 2 chicken breasts and 4 jumbo franks (just an example).  I know several people who give Omaha Steaks as gifts.  I think my parents did it for my brothers and sister one year but Tim and I have never had anything from Omaha Steaks.  Well that has changed!  Tim goes on a website daily called Lifestyle Rewards.  This started a couple of years ago when our campground membership, Thousand Trails, insisted we attend a sales meeting to get us to buy a "better" membership.  If you have followed my Travels With Ruth blog it was when we were accused of "stealing" from Thousand Trails because we actually used our membership.  We were actually dismissed from the meeting but for our troubles we were given a $500 gift card to Lifestyle Rewards.  That ended up being a pretty good deal because since then we have been able to get a few gifts but just for going on the site daily Tim has won several small gift cards ($5.00 to $25.00) for restaurants or stores.  Well, a couple of weeks ago he won a $50.00 gift card to Omaha Steaks.  After looking at the Omaha Steaks site we found out that the $50.00 gift card would not get us much especially with shipping.  After looking at our options we decided to buy a bigger package and use the gift card and our own money to pay for it.  Well, the Omaha Steaks order has arrived!  We received 4 sirloin steaks, 16 gourmet burgers, 6 pork chops, 4 chicken breasts, 4 Polynesian pork chops and 4 jumbo franks. We figured that was about 14 to 16 meals.  This was a value pack order that we created and used the gift card and about $70.00 of our own money to purchase it.  Well so far we are not too disappointed.  The portions are a little small but certainly doable for dinners.  We had one small shipping mishap when we received our order.  Everything was frozen but the Polynesian pork chops which were cold but not frozen.  We called the company who is sending us a new order of the Polynesian Pork chops.  So far, we have enjoyed the meat and would recommend Omaha Steaks as a gift or for yourself.