Food and Furthermore IV

Refrigerator Dill Pickles and more.... With such cute, wee cucumbers at our local farmer's market, and with a bit of leftover dill Memorial Day's potato salad, I was compelled to produce pickles... Refrigerator pickles are ever so much better than heat processed pickles. CRUNCH! That's the big difference, in a word. You'll also appreciate how easy and inexpensive it is to make quarts and quarts. (Scroll down to the bottom for the recipe.) I make as many as we'll need for a couple of months, and a few extra jars to share.

In fact, I just gave my pesty little brother a jar of pickles and a jar of strawberry jam. He deadpanned, "Do you think my wife is pregnant?" Although the thought was far from my mind, he does have five children and the "baby" is turning three this month. You just never know when pickles and jam might come in handy, Roy. Here are three of his girls plus one of mine. His oldest girl (top right) just cut off her braid to donate to "Locks of Love." What a gal! Furthermore, we had loads of company this weekend. We live across the street from my parents, so whoever visits them, visits us, too. (That's mostly a good thing!) I'm crazy about my nieces and nephews. Just look at that face!And furthermore, we celebrated my superhero Dad's 67th birthday. I still think he could be the President of the US, or an FBI agent, or at the very least John Wayne. Plus, he put up with me when I was a teenager. The least I can do is make his favorite chocolate mayonnaise cake. My British great grandma used to make it for him when he was a boy, chock full of dates and walnuts. (I'll pass on the recipe-if anyone wants it. Leave a request in the comment section.) It's surprisingly delicious to grown-ups, but I divide the batter in half and make some plain chocolate mayonnaise cupcakes, too-with a cute candy initial piped from vanilla melts. Actually, I don't even admit to the kids that there is mayonnaise in the cake at all. See how fun my Dad is? You've got to have a sense of humor to raise 10 kids. Especially if 8 of them are girls. And at least one of the boys (Roy) is excessively pesty.
Here's what the ex-basketball star got for his birthday. I wonder if he'll still be willing to help me practice my right hook....
Now on to those little pickles....

Refrigerator Dill Pickles
Estimated cost: $5.00

Notes: The price will vary depending on the cost of your local cucumbers, but it's still going to be lots cheaper than purchasing pickles.

about 10 Kirby cucumbers, sliced

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, sliced

fresh dill, about 10 sprigs

6 cups water

2 cups vinegar

1/4 cup salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon black pepper
Layer cucumbers, onion, and garlic in clean glass bottles. In a medium saucepan, boil water, vinegar, salt and sugar. Let cool for five minutes. Pour over cucumbers in jars to cover and refrigerate. (If you run out of liquid, just add equal parts water and vinegar.) Cucumbers will be best after one week-but I can never wait that long. Good luck!

Coming Tomorrow: Using your Root Beer Barbecue Sauce on Grilled Chicken-plus a leftover bonus

Radish and Dill Red Potato Salad

Cool and Creamy Potato Salad for your Memorial Day Feast...This potato salad is a bit of a black sheep among its spudly peers. First of all, it has no mayonnaise. (Sorry, Dad-I know how you crave your Best Foods.) No pickles. No celery. No vinegar. No peeling potatoes-oh, don't you love it already? Here's what it does have: fresh and green cooling dill, smooth sour cream, spicy radishes, piquant Dijon mustard, buttery red potato bites, crisp green onions. It's crunchy, creamy, refreshing and luscious, all in the same bite. Dill makes this dish. If you can't find fresh, use good quality dried-the kind where it still smells like fresh dill, not heaps of mowed grass.

Once I made this potato salad in college for my boyfriend (now husband) and his friends, but I forgot to buy dill. It took half an hour to find some kind stranger in the apartment complex with dried dill to borrow. Why I didn't just send my boyfriend to the store is beyond me. Apparently, I waited until he was my husband before marching him off to market for forgotten items.
This time, prepared, I shelled out the $2.29 at the market for a package of fresh dill. I only used a wee bit, so next week I'm making refrigerator dill pickles.

Radish and Dill Red Potato Salad

Estimated Cost: $3.50

Notes: You can make this one day ahead. Be sure to adjust the seasonings before serving-starchy salads can become bland in the fridge.

3 lbs. red potatoes, scrubbed
about 1/2 cup thinly sliced red radishes

about 1/2 cup chopped green onion

1 and 1/2 cups sour cream (I used half light)

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon each salt and pepper

about 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Cut potatoes into 1 inch chunks. Place in a large pot of cold water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain potatoes. Toss hot potatoes with radishes and onions. Add in the sour cream, mustard, salt and pepper, stirring gently. When potatoes cool down to room temperature, add in dill. Taste and adjust seasoning. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Look what's coming tomorrow...