Here's to Pickles!!

Tim and I spent Sunday afternoon teaching ourselves & each other how to make bread & butter pickles. We walked straight in from the garden with POUNDS of our first gorgeous cucs and set out right away chopping & pre-pickling prepping (say that one 3 times fast...). The process was much easier than I had anticipated. I was also surprised to see how much SUGAR goes in to making pickles. SUGAR? So much sugar, that it seems like they should be eaten for dessert rather than used as a harmless little condiment. I consoled myself that sugar, even though it is terrible for you in such a quantity, is still better than corn syrup, right? Right. So, at least I have that to console myself with while going on an inevitable pickle-eating spree. Plus, these cucumbers were grown with love, care, and lots of bug-squishing, hard work. All of that good pickle karma is sure to translate some positive love into the final product. And check these babies out:

WA LA! We were both pretty proud of them. And yes, we did the nerdy "go-team-winn" high-five in our final moment of glory when we took the jars out and heard the little "ping, ping, ping" sounds all in a row (meaning the lids sealed). During this process, I was telling Tim that the more I learn how to grow and preserve food, the more I feel like a really kick-ass woman. Seriously. It is empowering in the strangest way. I know it seems like all of this time and energy spent in the kitchen & garden pouring myself into "old-timey" ways would seem like anything other than liberation, but to me, it truly does feel that way. I am not trying to live backwards either, or longing to have the world as it was 100+ years ago. We talked to our friend, Edith (she is 91) and all kept reiterating the question, what is appropriate? How do merge some of the traditional skills & artistry of simple living and survival with the blessings and curses of our technologic age? None of us our fanatics about it either, but each is searching for their own personal balance and sense of responsible living. I find humor here in the fact that I am blogging these questions and thoughts out via the internet, as my deyhdrator wizzes beside me. It is such a process... but I am so deeply grateful to be in it.