Dream Machine…
Hi There! 🙂
How was your weekend? I had such a relaxing weekend! I loved it! I haven’t had a weekend like that in ages! It felt great.
The weather never got higher than the mid eighties. It felt like fall was approaching! I got a couple of great runs in without the jogging stroller… it felt strange running without it… I’ve gotten so use to running with M and all that extra weight 😉
After my run I walked over to our neighborhood farmer’s market. I bought some pickling cukes…
Okra…
Sweet Corn on the Cob…
And some green beans….
Remember those jalapenos I pickled? Well I opened up the jar this weekend and dug in… They were incredible! I don’t say this often, or do this, but these are the kind of jalapenos you have on your plate and take a big ole’ bite out of with your meal. The only time I ever do this is when I’m home in Texas and eat a Whataburger! I think this is something only my Texas readers will understand 😉
Those jalapenos boosted up my pickling confidence 🙂 I decided to give regular old pickles a try….
And OKRA 🙂 I LOVE pickled okra! My mom always had a jar of these in our house growing up. The only way I like eating okra is either fried or pickled.
I made a large pickling base to split amongst each jar. Then I added the different spices after the pickling juice was added.
Pickling Base:
- 3 cups distilled white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons mustard seed
Bring mixture to medium-high heat until salt and sugar are dissolved. Divide the mixture evenly among the jars. Add your spices and top each jar off with water, seal and refrigerate. Pickles will be ready to enjoy the next day 🙂
Spicy Pickles… with 10 sprigs of dill,1 tablespoon whole peppercorns and 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes.
Pickled okra… 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns, 12 sprigs dill….
Dill Pickles… 12 sprigs of dill, 2 tablespoons peppercorns, 1 tablespoon kosher salt.
Spicy…..
Okra….
I had a sample of the pickles last night…. they were so good!! The spicy ones sure were spicy… but I loved em’ 🙂
And now for the Kiddie Lunch Box….
Cheese Quesadilla on a whole wheat tortilla….
Baked Beans….
Fresh steamed Broccoli…
M ate it all up… even the broccoli 🙂
Do you dream at night when you sleep?
I use to never dream, but now I have crazy dreams night after night. I’ve also noticed my sleeping patterns have changed. When I was working outside the home I was in bed by 10pm at the latest every night. Now I stay up till at least 11 PM… sometimes 12 AM. I still wake up around 6:30 every morning. But these dreams are insane! I don’t know if my sleeping patterns have anything to do with it. The last time I consistently had crazy dreams was when I was pregnant with M. I know for a FACT that I am not pregnant. Trust me… I’m not….
Maybe its because I’m in a deeper sleep? I don’t know anything about dreams or the meaning of them… so I’m not even going to try to analyze them.
What about you? Do you dream?
Check you out with your fancy pickling!
I’m going through some whacky dreaming lately. I’m not sure why but it’s entertaining anyway!
All of these pickled recipes look great — all right, I’m going to have to try them!!
I’m a big dream analyzation chick — I love reading about what something could mean! The problem is that I wake up right after my dream, I think about it, and then fall right back to sleep, so that when I *really* wake up in the morning, I forget all about it! It’s hard when you’re that tired to make yourself pick up the pen and start writing down all the weirdness that you just dreamed of!
i have some cucumbers right now that i have been meaning to pickle…i think your pickle confidence is going to boost my own 🙂
I think I’m in love with your life. A beautiful daughter, handsome husband, homemade popsicles and pickled vegetables. What more do you need?!?
all your vegetables look beautiful!
First off, the pickling looks so good! I wish I had some of those jalapenos! I don’t dream all the time, but mine are always weird. I think it definitely depends on the level of deep sleep you get. I am afraid to analyze mine. I don’t want to know how weird I am!
Great to know the jalapenos were a success! Nothing to worry about 😉
The only time I really have crazy dreams is when I am getting sick or am already sick.
Oooh, pickles! I’d love to make those. I’ve never had okra, though.
I find that I get crazy dreams after I eat a particularly salty meal or a heavy meal. I’m not sure what that’s all about.
That so funny that you mention your dreams… I went and saw Inception a few weeks back and ever since, every night I have these crazy (some what stressful) dreams and wake up kinda tired. Kind of like I actually did everything that happened in my dream. Weird. And I don’t really like it. Not sure what’s going on, but I would love to go back to mostly dreamless nights bc this gal’s getting worn out! lol
I would love spicy pickles. Those are two flavor combos that always make me happy.
And I dream a lot. I have really intense, strange dreams all the time. Recently I had one and I woke up and swore I was back in high school. Thank goodness that was not true. LOL
I still need to perfect my pickling. My pickles were not that great. Where did you get those jars? I love them!
I am really impressed with your pickling abilities…I wouldn’t even know where to start! Everything looks delicious!
I am not much of a dreamer unfortunately. I don’t think I sleep deep enough!
First of all, you had me at pickled jalapenos! I am going to give your spicy pickles a go – August is usually a big canning month for me 😀
I just need to hit up some more garage sales to get more jars!
this pickling has got me intrigued! i’m gonna have to give it a go!
I’ve been wanting to do my own pickling, I haven’t gotten around to it. However, I have done “sloppy” pickled jalapenos by just boiling them and storing them in a container with water + white vinegar. They seem to last for ages! One day I’ll do it the right way, though. hehe
Your fresh produce is gorgeous. And it looks like you did a fine job pickling! Yay! Love it. 🙂
Jenn
“I think I’m in love with your life. A beautiful daughter, handsome husband, homemade popsicles and pickled vegetables. What more do you need?!?”
What she said! 😉 Everything looks blissful as usual. Although, I don’t know what to make of your dream patterns. I just know food. 🙂
“without the jogging stroller… it felt strange running without it”–i can relate! 3.5 yrs later, i can relate 🙂
your pickling looks great! i went so far a couple weeks ago to litearlly just add Apple cider vinegar, sugar, few spices to veggies and never even bring it to a boil for my pickling project. I blogged about it..turned out fine! yours is prettier though 🙂
ever since we watched “inception” my husband and i have been remembering and noticing our dreams a lot more!
Pickled okra is new for me and I have never tasted it before.Now I will also try for it and make a spicy pickle for me.I really like that you have given me a new idea for pickle.