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Plans for a Trunk, and Pickle Pictures

Wed, 07/27/2011 - 19:58 — Maggie

So I didn't get anything actually done.. But I did make some plans!Plans for a Cedar TrunkPlans for a Cedar Trunk

So I've been wanting some better storage, like something that actually looks nice. I have one trunk in the living room, not a very pretty one, but still better looking than most inexpensive storage. Rubbermaids are ugly!

So I'm making plans to build some trunks. Well, I'll start with one, then go from there. So I drew up some plans in Google Sketchup. The cedar boards don't come any wider than 8 inches, and only in even numbered widths, which made plans slightly more difficult, but I think I've got it figured out.

The body of the chest will be 16 inches tall, 18 inches deep and 32 inches wide (including the outside pieces on the sides.) The lid will be another four inches tall. I'd hadn't originally intended the lid to be quite so tall, but this seemed like the best design, given the size limitations for the cedar boards that Lowe's carries.
Pickles (The Milk is for Perspective!)Pickles (The Milk is for Perspective!)

And here's a picture of the pickling pickles next to a half-gallon of milk for perspective. See, the jar is bigger than it looked! They all fit with room to spare!

However, they're not yet pickled. It had been a week, but the insides didn't taste pickled. We put the cucumber spears back in the jar along with the rest of the still-pickling pickling cucumbers.

Seems that the color on that crock I was using wasn't so colorfast.. because some of it definitely seeped into the pickles and the garlic. I do hope it's not dangerous. But the coloring on the crock from a crock pot can't be dangerous, can it? It is meant for food.

Does the brine look darker than it should be? I think of brine as being lighter colored, but I'm not exactly an expert on pickling. And I assume that if the coloring from the crock seeped into the garlic and the not-yet-pickles, it's probably in the brine too.

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Pickle Pot!

Fri, 07/22/2011 - 11:33 — Maggie

Big Pickle JarBig Pickle Jar Alright fine, it's actually a pickle jar. But that didn't sound like nearly such a good title!

I have, of course, been complaining about my lack of a properly photogenic pickling container. So yesterday Kris arrived home with this! I'll remove the label, but I just had to show off the fact that it's a gallon-sized pickle jar! And actually MEANT for pickles!

So.. now I have a big pickling jar and a crock of pickling cucumbers pickling in the fridge. Should I move them to the jar? Or might that hurt them? I'm not completely sure if all of them will fit. Some of them are a bit larger than I probably should have let them get, so that makes pickle arrangement less flexible.
So if they don't fit, then I would have to move them twice. Any advice? Should they just stay put for the pickling process, and I'll use the photogenic jar for the next batch?

I guess I really should have put the jar next to something in the picture, because besides the size written on it, you can't really gauge size from a pickle jar alone! Note to self: When taking a picture of something in order to demonstrate its size, put it next to something recognizable, to provide context.)


(The label design obviously belongs to Vlasic. I have no affiliation with them besides possession of a large jar previously home to Vlasic pickles.)

What A Crock of Pickles!

Wed, 07/20/2011 - 17:59 — Maggie

Submerged PicklesSubmerged Pickles More accurately, it will be a crock of pickles in 7 days. Currently, it's a crock of pickling cucumbers in brine.

Back in June, Yarndiva of Sew Old - Sew New commented on my first silk chiffon tunic post. Then I followed her back to her blog and discovered her Best Dill Pickles post. And so I planted some pickling cucumbers.
Now I have picked some pickling cucumbers and started them pickling!
Crock of PicklesCrock of Pickles
I hounded her quite a bit with pickling-noob questions. And only just noticed, upon checking that post again, that she has a picture of the salt and pickling spice that she used. And it's the same kosher salt that I got that says that it can be used in place of pickling salt, so I was thinking that maybe I'd gotten the wrong stuff. (Note to self: always look at the big pictures!)

I found that I had trouble finding proper pickling vessels. I ended up taking "crock" literally and using the crock from my crock pot. I probably should have picked the pickling cucumbers when they were smaller. Smaller cucumbers would have meant more flexibility with containers. I thought maybe I could fit them into a vase, but I couldn't. So this time it's a crock. Next time it'll be smaller pickles in a vase. That would definitely look better while they're pickling. I had trouble finding something that would work to weight the top to keep the pickling cucumbers submerged. I ended up using the lid from my Pyrex mixing bowl, because I needed something rather large in order to keep them all submerged. This is not a very photogenic pickling situation.

Kris thinks I'm crazy for wanting the cucumbers to look pretty while they're pickling, but it's not just in the fridge that I want them to look pretty. A crock pot crock and a Pyrex mixing bowl lid don't make for pretty blog pictures either! Definitely not as photogenic as Yarndiva's milk jar.

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