Scum Pickles: The mysteries of open crock pickles

My co-worker made a batch of these earlier this summer and brought them to work. They are delicious! She gave me the recipe and even gifted me my very own stoneware crock to use. I wandered the farmer's market in downtown St. Paul and found the baby cucumbers. However, the farmers were all out of dill. Every one of them! I eventually found some fresh dill weed, not seed, at Mississippi Market. Either/or should do just fine. So far my pickles have been hanging out on the kitchen counter for about a week. The "scum" that I'm am to skim daily according to the recipe is both

scum-like and mold-like. It is whitish-grey and ranges from a flakey sort of scum to a fuzzy kind of mold. It's mildly disturbing, but (I've been assured) perfectly normal. The brine on these ends up being cloudy rather than than the clear that I'm used to with canned pickles. If you've ever been to the Rennissance Festival, you've likely had a version of these from the super-hot "pickle man."

The chemistry of it all is a bit mysterious. While the mold/scum is a bit disconcerting, it is merely a bi-product of the fermenting that the pickles are are actually doing. The salt and the vinegar in the brine render any dangerous-type organisms completely harmless. You may be wondering to yourself, "why would a pregnant woman take her chances with mysterious food science?" Well, because its pickles.

So, these little beauties should be done working thier crock magic on October 7th. I really don't need a whole gallon of pickles, so if you want some, come on by. Or try a making a batch yourself:

Dorothy's Open Crock Pickles
1 Gallon Crock
Lots of tiny cucumbers washed and dried
Place a layer of dill in the bottom of the crock
Sprinkle 1 TB pickling spices on top of dill then layer the cucumbers on top
Cover with another 1 TB of pickling spices and another layer of dill
Add as many peeled garlic bulbs as you like
Add 1 or 2 hot red peppers
Cover all with brine

Brine (add according to how much space you have left--you may not use all of this)
Boil together for 2 minutes then allow to cool before pouring over cucumbers in crock
1/2 C canning salt
2 Qts water
1/2 C white vinegar

Timing
Leave crock on countertop at room temperature for at least 3 weeks and then refrigerate
Weight down with an inverted dish and a pretty rock and let sit or "work" until cucumbers are crisp and uniform in color
Skim the whitish-grey scum off top daily

Community Supported Agriculture - Eating Locally

Summer's bounty! We joined a CSA this summer, meaning that we bought a share in a local farmer's crop for the year. Since June, we've received a bag of vegetables from our farmer every week. The contents of the bag are entirely dependent on what's ripe and ready to pick that week. Our little 1/2 share in Burning River Farm over in Fredric, WI is more than enough for me and Nathan and then some. The harvest this week was beautiful and delicious. I made tomato-basil-fresh mozzarella "caprese" salads, creamed cucumbers, and a killer stir-fry. Nothing tastes quite as good as fresh, garden tomatoes. The grocery store tomatoes from California and elsewhere taste bland and mealy and, well, ishy comparatively.

I plan to make some steamed beets and sweet corn with Hope Creamery butter to have with a roast chicken tonight. We got a wee bundle of fresh thyme that will be wonderful with chicken.

This week we also got summer squash, really sweet little carrots, leeks, pac choi, arugula and spinach for salads, kale, green pepper and onions :) I am looking forward to the fall winter squashes and to pumpkins and fresh apples to use to make pie filling for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Suns of Munich Baby Blessing

At our annual gathering of festive souls, a couple of dear friends helped me to bless the baby by applying a Mehndi design on my belly. Henna is believed to protect and bless the mother and the baby and to bring about an easy delivery and healthy child. The sun is a symbol of blessing and fertility. It also looks absolutley beautiful. Thank you so much to my friend, Matt, who did the application and design and my dear, Reena, who assisted and added flair with the jewels. It has been three days and the design is still lovely. I hope it will last for days to come! The baby assisted in the design as well by moving vigorously throughout the two hours it took to apply, kicking Matt every couple of minutes :) Good baby.

Matt and Reena at work

Completing the central sun design

The finished design with jewels (32 weeks)

The Mehndi "tatoo" two days after the paste application

Nouveau American Gothic

Photo by Nataraj

Click on photo for a larger image!

I absolutely love this photo. We look very content and happy and, indeed, I think we are. I think we also look strong and confident and ready for the new life that is soon to join us.

Midwives, Doulas and too much information

I've attacked pregnancy with an academic vigor. Not surprising given how nerdy I am, but, there is such a thing as too much information. I have collected 20-some books on pregnancy, childbirth and the first year - of varying opinion and perspective - from ob/gyn's to midwives and those in-between. I've mined the internet, asked my sisters, mother, friends and random strangers to tell me thier birth stories, compared and contrasted methods and styles, researched c-section and episotomy rates, medications, interventions, breast pumps, bpa-free plastics, circumcisions and just about everything else. We've hired a doula and switched from a ob/gyn to a midwife and we've decided to try for a waterbirth. I've subscribed to parenting magazines, discussed at length various issues with Nathan and made list after list after list. I like lists. I like crossing things off of lists even better.

I'm saturated. My brain is full, and instincts are starting to take over as my first real desire to nest kicked in this week. I think its probably time to put the books away and to start letting all of that information (much of it conflicting) sink in and sort itself out. It's time to get the nursury ready and get stocked up on the basics like diapers and burp cloths. That and try to relax, nap and enjoy quiet time with Nathan before the boy makes his grand entrance.

Speaking of the belly tot, he is doing well. He is moving and kicking and spinning and roiling around with frequency and urgency. He is getting big, too! I am starting to look almost cartoonish in proportions. My feet are constantly swollen and nothing has felt quite as good lately as swimming in a nice cool lake and letting my knees, hips, feet and joints have a break from all this extra weight.

I am looking forward to the whirlwind of birth classes and baby showers that are scheduled for September as well as camping Labor Day weekend and swimming as much as I can in that sweet, cold, clear lake water... ahhh...Week 30 (Month 7)

Breaking the Law

...before it breaks me. I finished the third class in my Master's degree today. I hit send on my final term paper and promptly celebrated with an orange soda and some tacos. (Man, I miss beer...) Anyway, I really liked this class and my professor. It was Nonprofit Law and, being that I've long flirted with law school, I knew I'd like it. I even did all of the reading, including the tomes on nonprofit law written by the American Bar Association. The better news is that my classmates tell me that law is the most feared and most difficult class in the degree. If that's true, I should be able to finish the Master's with little problem, just time. Is my nerdiness becoming? Do I look more lovely in the dim glow of a musty library? Want to be on my trivia team? Oh, yeah.

July 4th Weekend - Babies and Sunshine

Cabin rules: Let the kiddies get as dirty as they can all day, then scrub 'em up good in the outdoor tub before bed :) Lukas, age 1; Miranda, age 3; Tobin, age 1: Each with an assigned parent.

Six months pregnant! It's the first time in my life that I'm not a bit self-conscious about how I look. What better time to finally break out the yellow polka dot bikini? Lots and lots of suncreen was neccassary, however.