Grandma's refrigerator pickles

I've been holding out on you guys. I've been meaning to share my grandma's refrigerator pickle recipe, but kept putting it off.

This is my go-to recipe when the cucumbers are plentiful in my garden. My grandma shared it with me after I just graduated from college and was learning to cook on my own. She used the giant cucumbers that my grandpa grew from an old hog lot he turned into a garden. Old hog manure turned out to be excellent fertilizer!

Here's the recipe, if you want to give it a try. Enjoy!

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Grandma's refrigerator pickles

4 cups sugar

4 cups vinegar

1/2 cups salt

1-1/3 tsp. mustard seed

3 onions, sliced

Cucumbers to fill a gallon jar

Mix all ingredients together. This syrup is cold. Keep in refrigerator for five days, then they are ready to eat.

My grandma's fancy plates

 

I inherited these fancy blue plates from my grandmother.  My mom told me that she remembers how these plates were quite a big deal at the time (maybe the '50s or '60s?). My grandmother actually bought herself a set after her mom got these dishes.  They would use them whenever they had friends over for lunches or afternoon get-togethers, which probably involved a game of cards, because my grandparents loved to play cards.

A few weeks ago, one of my co-workers made cucumber sandwiches for a bridal shower for another co-worker.  I thought it would be fun to unpack these blue plates and put together a little tea party for my sister when she came to visit.  While these aren't the prettiest plates, they do look nice when they are covered by tiny sandwiches.

By the way, I made the cucumber sandwiches with a tiny loaf of rye bread (you can find it in the bread aisle), vegetable cream cheese spread, cucumbers and then sprinkled with dill. Very easy and quick to make.

Odds & Ends: August 2012

Wow! Summer has gone by way too fast. The trees are already turning color in my neighborhood, another byproduct of this summer's drought.  The Iowa State Fair always seems to be the last fun getaway for the summer. My sister and I had way too much fun with all the photo cutouts at the State Fair this year ;)

I actually have to work at the state fair at least one day each year, and last weekend, we closed up the booth for the night right when a storm blew through the fairgrounds.  That's right, a storm. In the middle of a drought.  Talk about bad timing on my part!

Even though it was pouring rain, I couldn't leave the fairgrounds without my favorite chocolate chip cookie dough milk shake from the Dairy Barn.  I stood under an awning and enjoyed my shake in the rain!

The really weird thins about the rainstorm was that it was the second time I got caught in a heavy downpour in the last week. And yes, we're still in a drought!

The weekend before, I ran a 5K race at the State Capitol. When I hit the 2 mile mark, the clouds got dark, and a thunderstorm rolled in.  We all scattered for shelter under these tiny tents.  Did I mention there was lightening going off over our heads?  I haven't been that scared in a long time. Glad I wasn't up on the gold dome!

In other big news (at least for me), I partnered up with a team on TriMatchup.com to ride the cycling leg of the Hy-Vee Triathlon on Labor Day weekend.  I took my bike to the Neal Smith Trail along Saylorville Lake to test out how well I'd do at the race's 25 mile distance.  But I had no idea how hilly the trail was.  My poor legs and bike barely made it up all those hills!  I hope the Hy-Vee Tri course is a lot less hilly.  I don't have a fast bike, so I'm getting a little worried that I'm going to get in the way of all the other racers!

Now that we've got a little rain, my garden is starting to perk up.  Can you see what I found in my garden the other day?  At least it seemed to be nibbling on the weeds and not the flowers.

And after months of waiting, we finally have cucumbers!  My husband put up a cattle panel to use as a cucumber trellis.  Now our backyard looks like an edible jungle.  I love it!

After a terrible growing season for cucumbers last year, I'm so happy to finally have enough cucumbers to make pickles again.  I've been relying on a shortcut this year -- the Mrs. Wage's pickle mixes -- for canning pickles.  I've had mixed luck at making my own pickle mix from scratch, so I'm hoping the already-prepared mix will work out well.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

So how are you enjoying the last few days of summer?  Have you been canning any garden produce?  As much as I love the summer, I'm looking forward to the fall apple season so I can make pies :)