Thread: Sauce & Relish
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songbird songbird is offline
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Default Sauce & Relish

Drew Lawson wrote:
>songbird writes:
>>Drew Lawson wrote:
>>...
>>> It seems to be a little watery again. I'm getting better at cucumber
>>> management, but still ended up needing to use some that were more
>>> mature than ideal.

>>
>> do you scoop out the insides? we do with an ice-cream
>>scooper. while i don't mind eating that myself Mom objects
>>to it in most things.

>
> Not yet, but that is a good idea. It would probably reduce the
> watery aspect. I'll keep that in mind for next year.


i also pre-process them by salting them some and
then letting them sit a while and that pulls a lot of
moisture out of them.

in the batch i did earlier this week though i used a
bit too much salt so we'll have to use these in
recipes and not add any extra other salt (we usually
don't anyways).


> The cucumbers are suddenly in die-off mode. Not sure why. There's
> mildew, of course, but I've never seen that kill a vine outright.
>
> Might be the heat. Even for August, western Ohio has been pretty
> hot and dry (except in downpours, thunderstorms, and -- of course
> -- tornadoes).


we've had a few seasons where the cucumbers finish
early, but not most of them. the plants will keep
going right up until frosts get them if we don't pull
them sooner. which i am quite ready to do...


....
>> pickles are done for the season. we just picked
>>two more buckets of cucumbers but they will be eaten
>>or given away.

>
> I have to plant more vines next year. This year went well, but I
> didn't have enough ripe at once for finger pickles (gerkins, for
> the US) or not-watery relish.


i don't like the too small ones, they're a pain to
clean if they get dirt on them. my brother requested
them and i told him if he wants them he can come over
and clean them.


>> i did 12 pints of bread and butter pickles with
>>the previous batch.

>
> I haven't done B&B pickles for close to 40 years. I don't recall
> the flavor, just that I liked them.


sweet and sour with pickles and onion. all good
for me. Mom uses them in some of her cooking as a
sweet and sour aspect. i like them in tuna salad and
egg salad to contrast with the green olives.


songbird