Pickles

Today I tried something new: making pickles. I started with green beans and a recipe from Emeril. Green beans, fresh rosemary, and lemon rind in a brine of white vinegar, water, and salt. Here's the "in process" picture:

Steam process for 15 minutes, then let "cure" for 3 weeks. I don't know if I'll be able to wait that long.... It seemed wasteful to heat up the whole canning pot for just two pints, but it felt like the beans needed to be cooked, so I didn't want to skip that step. And this way I can keep one pint for later.

Then I tackled bread and butter pickles. Lara inspired me with her success story, and then there was a recipe in this month's Cooking Light, so it was fate. Cukes are from the Borskis. This mixture smelled wonderful:

The b&b pickles don't require processing, so I just put them in a big jar and will keep them in the fridge. Here are the finished products:

I'll let you know how they taste...