# 28 In a bit of a pickle

Who doesn’t like a pickle? Even better, pickled okra, green beans, radishes, cauliflower and sweet onions? Did I go overboard? 

On my recent retreat to Serenbe (also known as heaven on earth), mother and I were treated to pickled okra, pimento cheese, crackers and sweet mint tea every afternoon. It gets better. During our dinner at the Hil (absolutely delicious btw), we had the luxury of trying their version of antipasto, potato rosemary bread, soppressato, brie and pickled vegetables. As if I needed any more encouragement, all my reading materials for the week had articles on either canning, pickling or jamming. And with that #28 was set.

I started with something easy, pickled okra. Well at least I thought it would be easy. Okra was a little hard to find, then the dried chiles and then the mason jars. In what I thought would take 2 stops ended up taking 6.

Here’s the recipe:

Pickled Okra
(courtesy of Alton Brown)

2 lbs, small to medium okra

4 small, dried chiles, split in ½

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

12 sprigs fresh dill

4 cloves garlic, whole

1 teaspoon whole peppercorns

¼ cup kosher salt

2 cups bottled water

2 cups rice wine vinegar

4 pint sized canning jars, sterilized.

Directions:

1. Wash okra and then trim stems to ½ inch.
2. Place 1 chile, ½ teaspoon mustard seeds, 3 sprigs of dill, 1 garlic clove and ¼ teaspoon of peppercorns at the bottom of each sterilized jar.
3. Divide okra among jars, standing up vertically and alternating stems up and down.
4. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, bring salt, vinegar and water to boil. Once boiling, pour over okra leaving space between top of liquid and lid.
5. Seal lids and set in a cool, dry place for 2 weeks.

I’ll be sure to repost the results in 2 weeks. Between now and then I will probably try my hand at some cauliflower. If anyone has a recipe then please let me know.

# 27 Discover my inner flower child

Before

They say one’s floral skills are linked to one’s personal style. So I’m not very surprised, given my penchant for solid v-necks (or tank tops) and jeans, that my floral arranging skills have always been limited to one flower type arranged simply in a vase. So I recently had the opportunity to take a Flower Arrangement Class with my friend JP. With my floral tools (and glass of champagne) in hand, I selected my flowers: a hydrangea, bells of Ireland, 2 ferns, some filler and moss. After an hour of clipping, wrapping, arranging and adjusting, the simplest thing about my arrangement were the colors, green and white. Despite a lack of contrast in color, I was able to create a very artistic arrangement. Or at least I thought so.

After

Of course at the end of class, the instructor walked around the room taking pictures of all the designs while she oohed and aahed. It kinda felt like a kindergarten art class because to be honest, some of the arrangements looked like crap. And while I’m not about to quit my day job, I definitely think my future  bouquets will have a bit more pizzazz.

In addition to my new floral skills, I picked up a useful tip for those of you that are fans of hydrangeas.  Given their name, hydra-ngeas, (hydra = water) these beauties need a lot of water. So the next time you pick up a bouquet, take the time to shave down the ends of the stems and then clip them in half.

My partner in floral crime, JP

Interested in taking the class, call Dahlia Florist at 864.232.0112.