More farmers market adventures

This summer I've visited a few more farmer's markets in OK and on my travels.  The end of July we went on our annual family vacation to Mississippi for the Beckman family reunion.  We meet at Clarkco State Park near Meridian MS.  We're there from Tues until Sunday.  One of my cousins stopped at the Mississippi visitors center and saw a flyer for a farmers market trail and got it for me.  I was so excited, more farmers market road trips in the future. On Saturday morning, several of us went to the Meridian farmers market at Union Station.  This has become an annual event for us and one of my favorites.  I always manage to find things that I can take back with me to Oklahoma, mostly produce but this year it was also a plant.  I love plants and the majority of my plants have come from farmers markets.  I was walking by one of the vendors with plants and just looking, trying to figure

out logistics with taking something back to Oklahoma. When I asked about one of the plants the lady told me it was a Confederate Rose and because she needed to repot it she would sell it to me for $5.  SOLD! My husband was amused but use to me doing this by now so I brought it back, researched about it online and planted it in a 5 gallon bucket in my yard.  I wanted to get it established before putting it in the ground because full sun in Mississippi is very different from full sun in Oklahoma.  I'll overwinter it inside this year and plant it outside in the spring. One of my favor things to bring back from Mississippi is peaches.  I freeze and/or can them. In August, we planned another Saturday in OKC with our daughter, Tabitha. My husband, John, our dog, Clapton and I went to our local Lawton farmers market before leaving town, dropped the produce and Clapton off and then headed to Norman, OK.  I decided I wanted to add another farmers market to my list so Tabitha met us in Norman and we checked out theirs. Quite a few of the area farmers have booths at the OSU/OKC, Norman and Edmond farmers market but there's still unique vendors to each market.  We enjoyed it and bought produce, cheese and baked goods.  I bought peaches, not that I needed any because I still had peaches from Mississippi but later that week I canned 4 jars of Bourdon peaches plus made a peach cobbler for work with my MS and OK peaches.  Tabitha and I went in her car back to OKC and stopped off at the OSU/OKC farmers market for

yogurt and a couple more things that we couldn't get in Norman.  So that was 3 farmers markets for me in 1 day. Over Labor Day weekend my husband, John, Tabitha and I went to Little Rock, AR to visit my father-in-law and his wife. That Saturday, Tabitha and I went to the Hillcrest Farmers Market by the Pulaski Baptist Church on Kavanaugh Blvd.  We had went there last year when we visited and really enjoyed it so went back. We bought stuff to cook there for the family and to bring back to OK.  I cut up cantaloupe to go with sandwiches for lunch, made tomato pies and on Sunday made my farmers market eggs with veggies for breakfast.  Earlier this month I was asked to speak at my garden club about my farmers markets adventures which was fun. I do love to talk about farmers markets, veggies and cooking and preserving them. Unfortunately, with my work schedule I have to work 2 Saturdays a month so am unable to go to the farmers markets those days but I've converted my husband, John so he goes without me. Clapton also is a big fan of the farmers market, he loves people and most of the vendors know his name and he visits them for pets.  John buys produce and something for my lunch from the food truck, which he brings to me (I bring my lunch everyday but Saturday I get takeout from the farmers market since I can't be there in person). When I get home, I cut everything up and cook my go to dish on working Saturdays which is what I call Farmers Market Skillet.  It's any kind of meat, ground pork, ground lamb, lamb sausage or whatever John has bought and cooked plus veggies.  I add whatever veggies I have, usually a combination of fresh from the market and from my freezer stash, add seasonings, seasoned salt, pepper, herb blend, sofrito, sometimes mustard and sometimes something to make a kind of sauce and top it all with cheese.  It's a quick and tasty homemade meal and one of our favorites.   Farmers market adventures are the best.

Enjoy,

Bamah

 

 

 

 

 

All Things Pickled

We love pickles in my family, all kinds.  There is nothing better than homemade pickles and there's so many easy ways to make your own pickles.  Also pretty much every kind of fruit and vegetable can be pickled or made into a relish. My favorite is dill or sour pickles and bread and butter pickles but I also like other vegetables pickled as well. This summer, both of my daughters and I have been making and experimenting with different pickles on our own and comparing notes.  My oldest daughter, Tabitha, lives close by so we've been able to share jars back and forth which has been fun. I have several jars of refrigerator or quick pickles, cucumbers, radishes, and watermelon rind, plus a variety of fermented pickles and relishes.  I've been experimenting with fermentation and have made garlic paste, onion and sweet pepper relish and real dill pickles. My daughter, Aubree, bought me a book and fermentation kit several years ago and I've been having fun with it and now she's caught the fermentation bug and has been making her own pickles as well. This year, I've also canned several jars of dill pickles.  This post I'm going to mainly focus on quick or refrigerator pickles which are the easiest to do and do posts on canned pickles and fermented pickles and relishes in the future.

Radish quick pickles

Radish quick pickles

Basically pickles are made with a brine of either vinegar, salt and water or just salt and water.  Fermented pickles are made with a salt water brine put over cucumbers and allowed to set at room temperature for 7 to 10 days to ferment. Once fermented they are refrigerated for up to a year.  Canned pickles are made with a vinegar, salt and water brine, heated and poured over cucumbers and processed in a water bath.  They are then shelf stable for up to a year. Quick or refrigerator pickles is vinegar, salt and water added to vegetables and they are stored in the refrigerator and can be eaten within hours or a couple of days.  You can also use leftover pickle juice to make quick pickles.  If I have cucumbers left from what I've cut up for a salad or something, I just slice them up and add them to a jar of leftover pickle juice I keep in the refrigerator.  I just keep adding cucumbers until the jar is full.  They are quite tasty even by the next day.  I also made some radish quick pickles, just cut up fresh radishes I bought from the farmer's market and put in a jar of leftover pickle juice and put them in the refrigerator and they are fantastic.  I never throw out leftover pickle juice, there's so many uses for it.  Like I said, it makes easy and tasty quick pickles and is a way to preserve fresh produce, it can be drunk for leg cramps, used in a vinaigrette dressing or for a sauce or added to any kind of salad like potato, egg or tuna for an extra zing.  Here's Tabitha

recipe for Watermelon Rind Pickles:

Brine

1 cup of water
1 & 1/2 cups of (white) or (apple cider) vinegar can also use combination of different vinegars including balsamic or any kind of fancy vinegar
1 & 1/2 cups of white sugar (maybe 2 cups) can also substitute honey for part of sugar (1/2 and 1/2)
1 tsp. whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
3 tbsp. Kosher salt

juice from 1/2 a lemon
(You can also add 2 tsp. coriander seeds)

(Apple Cider Vinegar has a bit more bite and the white vinegar
is a bit smoother... especially when you use 2 cups of sugar.)

Mix and bring to a boil and simmer for one minute...

Remove from the heat and let cool for a couple minutes
then add 1 cup of ice cubes and stir until they are gone. Put cubed watermelon rinds in jars and pour the still warm (not hot) brine over the rinds and put lids on.  When completely cooled, refrigerate.  Let set at least 1 day before eating, the flavor will intensify the longer they set.

Fermented real dill pickles

So I hope this inspires you to make your own quick pickles, they really are super easy and so tasty.

Enjoy,

Bamah

Refrigerator pickles

Refrigerator pickles from leftover pickle juice

Canned dill pickles