Pickles
Pondering
Tephra and Constance visited a lovely big lagoon quite near to the Hitty cupboard. We had a picnic breakfast and then collected a big basket of Salicornia (sometimes called Beach Asparagus).
picking
It was almost too late in the season to gather it – when the tips start to go pink, the plant is about to flower and the stems get a hard woody core! You have to check every stem, and if the knife snicks against a woody core, you have to discard it.
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Pile
It didn’t take long to gather a big bunch, and bring it home, but about three hours to rinse and sort it.
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Pickling spice
Upon the advice of Chef Erin, and somewhat following a recipe, we mixed up a solution of equal parts of sugar, water and vinegar and put it to boil, along with some pickling spices.
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packing
Constance and Tephra helped pack the blanched Salicornia into jars…after which we sealed them, submerged the jars in a pot, brought the water to a boil, and boiled them for 25 minutes
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Perfect
Eight small jars and one medium…a good day’s work, but the proof will be in the pudding so to speak. Now we wait ten days (at least) to taste it!
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Well done, little wooden ladies!
We did enjoy the project – it took all day but we look forward to enjoying the fruits (or vegetables) of our labour this winter!
A good day’s work indeed! Let us know when you’ve sampled…sure sounds yummy!!!! Come to think of it girls…Mamie got a larger table in her kitchen as she was hoping to host cooking classes…perhaps you, young woodens, could come and be her first guest chefs?
We hope they will be tasty! Guest chefs, what a good idea!
looks very tasty , never heard of beach asparagus…only the regular kind. We started an asparagus patch several years ago , now we can pick it every spring. I wonder how it would taste pickled???
Lucky you to have your own asparagus bed! I love pickled asparagus (the regular kind) – I think it is delicious! It is my second favourite after pickled okra, and just ahead of pickled beans! M-m-m-m