(Really) Small Batch Pickles

Pickling Cucumbers to Pickles

Every year I attempt to grow something new.  This year I bought Pickling Cucumbers and planted the seeds into my newly created long and skinny planter made from redwood.  The trellis is some kind of string that my neighbor contributed to the project.  I've been training the cucumbers up the trellis with strategic use of twist ties and unused orchid clips.  The plant is newly giving fruit and the bees are a'buzzing around all the blossoms.   

I picked the first two short and fatty cukes and two much smaller ones to encourage the two plants to fruit more.  With only 4 cukes, I figured why not just do a small jar of refrigerator pickles?  First I submerged the pickles in icy water for a couple hours (as the Internet recommends) and then I used the back of a knife to scrape of all the prickly spines (seriously, the cukes are borderline cacti-- Who knew?).  Then the pickles were ready!

I followed this recipe from Food in Jars and cut it in half, because my batch was even smaller.  I didn't include the onions, from sheer laziness, but next time I'd like to try the onions.  I filled the jar with the hot vinegar mixture, tightened the lid, and flipped it upside down for 15 minutes.  Then I let it cool and plopped it in the fridge.  I used dried dill and I kicking myself for failing to go fresh dill.  I otherwise don't prefer dill, but in a pickle I sing a whole different song.  I'll have to go to the farmers market to find some good looking dill.

The jar ended up sealing, but since I didn't properly prepare the jar, and I'm certain I used an already used sealing ring, these pickles are staying in the fridge. 

The pickles lost their bright green skin by the morning, but that is normal.  I'm going to let them sit for at least another day before digging in!

Finally I'm Keeping One Of My Tea Pots

Tea pots are thrown in several parts: the body, the lid, and spout. Then trimmed and put together. Lastly a handle and lid handle. Needless to say it takes a bit of time to get it all right. These two personal sized pots are glazed in Rutile blue and ohata khaki glaze.  I'm keeping the blue but will gift the other! 

Clove Oil & Cucumbers-- Bad Match

I recently blogged about my foiled plans to use water and clove essential oils to attack a terrible powdery mildew issue with my snow peas and how I could have killed my neighbors koi fish. I decided to try a different method to administer the clove oil to the mildew. This time I added a few clove oil drops along with wintergreen and rosemary essential oils to a couple cups of water. I soaked a rag and administered the concoction to each leave. But my cukes were growing along side my peas so inevitably the cukes got a bit of the potion too. Well, the next day the cukes had white splotches where the potion had splashed. Some leaves turned brown and shriveled. Lesson learned! Stop using essential oils on my plants! In other news, the koi are still alive. 

Powdery Mildew and How I Could Have Killed My Neighbor's Koi

Snap peas are in full effect (actually snow peas: I bought seeds from a small seed business in Old Town asking for sugar snap peas and apparently they thought it was find to give me snow peas instead.  Bummed out a bit about it.  Sadly I doubt I'll ever buy seeds there again.).   My dad and I constructed my first excellent trellis from nails, old wood and string.  Awesome.  Planted my peas.  It is lovely.  Then.... attack of the powdery mildew.
Being the quasi-hippie that I am, I googled how to kill powdery mildew with essential oils.  My search led me to believe that misting the leaves with clove oil diluted in water was my solution.  I had clove oil in my stash, so i was ready to go!
As I'm happily spraying away and enjoying the smell of cloves in the evening and thinking to myself how clever I was, my neighbor arrives home.  Now, I live in an apartment and my garden is only 6 feet from  my neighbor's very cool koi pond.  It is in one of those barrels that frats use to keep their natty ice cold on a hot day, so not a very large koi pond.  But it is very nice to look at and adds a lovely fountain sound just outside my bedroom window.
I was promptly informed by my neighbor that clove oil kills fish! Great.  I was in the process of misting clove oil only feet away from innocent fish that could easily be euthanized.   Seriously, who knew?  I'd have been less likely to kill the fish from round-up pesticides.
Luckily I hadn't used all that much and after all I wasn't actually administering the concoction to the fish water.  However, had I used the spray every day, there is a good chance I could have damaged his fish.
Lesson Learned: no playing with essential oils when there are fish nearby!
So, I still have powdery mildew taking over my peas.  sad.

Handmade Custom Pottery for Nespresso

So, people who own the Nespresso maker are obsessed with their machines.  All those commercials with Salma trying to sell the machine using her mass sex appeal are no joke.  For folks who like this stuff, it is probably on the same level for them.  Case in point would be by BF who lives for his Nespresso.  His milk frother just malfunctioned and stopped working, and he is bummed out big time!  I really wonder how many of these drinks he makes on a daily basis.   

He got his machine as a gift, it is the one that doesn't have the extra little latch that pulls out to place the cup on to catch the espresso as it drips, it is the one with the built in non moveable little shelf.  Unfortunately the little shelf was too small to fit any of his mugs, so for the last year or so, he just uses those cute little hard plastic disposable cups that he gets every time he restocks his pods at Bloomingdales.  Though I am glad those single use cups are getting so much use, there really had to be a better option.  These little cups are my answer to the problem.  I brought the plastic cup to my pottery class and threw a set of mugs to mimic the look of the little plastic cups and to fit perfectly in the Nespresso. 

Dehydrated Pineapple & Tomatoes

Just one pineapple will fill up my Excalibur dehydrator. Dehydrated pineapple is basically candy it is so sweet and delicious. My self control is nothing standing up to these treats. The tomatoes were getting so ripe, I dried them too. I intend to grind them up to a nice powder for seasoning, but they are just so pretty I thought I'd admire them for a bit first.

Banana Muffins with Coconut Oil

Banana bread is no doubt one if my favorite sweets.  Sometimes I want that banana bread flavor but I don't want to wait an hour for a loaf to cook, and sometimes I want something between a cupcake and banana bread.  So I am in search for a go-to banana muffin recipe. 
I tried this one out this morning and think it is an approachable and respectable recipe. 

Preheat Oven: 350 degrees
Combine: 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup coconut oil, 1/2 cup sugar, dash of nutmeg, 1 tablespoon coconut milk (milk, almond milk, water, would all work), 1 egg, and 3 mashed ripe bananas.  Mix wet ingredients and fold in the dry.  Mix until dry ingredients are moistened.  Fill your cupcake tin (use liners or do greasing of the dish) 3/4 full.  You will have a dozen muffins (or a dozen plus 1 as I did).
Bake: 20-25 minutes
 
Enjoy!