Summer bounty

I meant to do my final post for ice cream week today, but instead spent my day dealing with the over-abundance of produce from our CSA.



The past three week's worth of beets became these chocolate beet muffins (thanks to Sara for tweeting about them yesterday, as I'd had no inspiration for dealing with the shelf full of red globes). They were a huge hit with the whole family, and I'm sure the extra cup of beet puree that I stashed in the freezer will be put to similar use soon.

The drawer full of cukes became seven jars of bread and butter pickles, a hot packed version of these fridge pickles. I love the ease of refrigerator pickles, but just don't have the fridge space.

And finally, I revisited small batch canning when I received a bag full of tomatoes, a ton of green and hot peppers, and onions in this week's box: three jars of hubby's favorite salsa.

For the first time, canning seemed more natural, less overwhelming. I didn't need to review the instructions every two seconds, and I made all of the salsa and almost all of the pickles without needing another pair of hands. Makes me feel more confident about the next over-flowing box of goodies coming my way!

Refrigerator pickles

Even though our local CSAs are having a really rough year (weeks of over 100º weather followed by torrential, destructive storms), summer squashes and cucumbers are having a fabulous year. I've been doing my best to keep up. For the zucchini and summer squash, I've used them in egg bakes, made fritters, made a no-noodle lasagna, zucchini hash browns. There seem to be a lot of creative things to do.

For the cukes, I've really struggled. We use them on our dinner salads, but that doesn't even come close to dealing with my veggie drawer full of cucumbers. So I've been making a lot of fridge pickles. These are perfectly balanced: deliciously sour from the vinegar, slightly sweet from the sugar, with a hint of spice and a nice crunch. This is our new favorite recipe.

Fridge pickles
adapted from Cooking Light

3 English cucumbers, cut into 1/4" inch slices
1 large onion, sliced
3/4 cups apple cider vinegar
3/4 cups white vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp minced garlic

1. Layer sliced cucumbers and onions in jars.
2. Combine vinegars, sugar, and spices in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute.
3. Pour over cucumbers and onions. Cool and refrigerate.

Makes 3 pint jars of pickles