Tasting Asparagus and Growing Peppers

Today I attempted the pickled asparagus. Considering that it is the most popular product here at Sunshine Farms, I figured it was about time. I was recommended to the Zesty Asparagus, Josh said it had a kick but that it wasn't too spicy. I do believe that Josh (the oldest son) and I have different opinions on spicy, as is proved below.

Since the asparagus season just finished up, so they've been planting the next few runs of vegetables. One of the main fall crops is peppers, which need to be planted now. They use peppers in a lot of their products. You can get solely pickled jalapeno peppers (I'm not looking forward to trying those!) but the main use for peppers is as an extra ingredient in the other products Zesty varieties. So they need to grow an extra large amount!

When they were done planting, they still had a couple of dozen extra pepper plants. So they asked me if I wanted to take any of them grow at home. Now, I didn't know what the plants were- they have been planting a variety of things,and they are small, green, and leafy at first.

I asked Josh what the plants were. He said that they were kind of spicy but not too hot unlike some other varieties of peppers. Well, that was a fairly vague answer and didn't really tell me what I wanted to know. I now know that they are some sort of pepper, but I have never really heard of an un-spicy pepper. So, slightly more wary, I asked him again what they were.

He admitted they were jalapeno peppers, but like all other jalapeno peppers, they weren't that hot- in fact he enjoys adding a few to his burgers. So for all you adventurous people, there's a new idea for you! But as we previously went over, I am not a spicy fan. So the fact that they were JUST jalapeno peppers was not appealing to me, and the plants went to someone else.

So back to the original point of the story: attempting the non-zesty pickled asparagus. It was really good! As I bit into it, there was a nice satisfying crunch, then the taste exploded in my mouth. It was slightly salty, (as are all pickled products because of the salt and vinegar used in the pickling process) but not overwhelmingly so; I could definitely still taste asparagus. I was expecting it to be rather mushy considering it's been sitting in vinegar for over 6 weeks so I was pleasantly satisfied with the nice crunch. It still tasted fresh and crisp- a real treat. I was only going to try a few stalks but as I started typing, the asparagus kept disappearing. The jar is now half empty, and being hidden so I can save a bit of room for my lunch!

Have you tried our pickled asparagus? Did you find it as I good as I did? Did your asparagus also “mysteriously disappear?”

~Summer Pickle Blogger

Regular vs. HOT Carrots

I realized that there's something important about me that you should know: I'm not a spicy person. Mild Chicken wings used to set my mouth on fire (the only reason that this is no longer true is that I don't eat them anymore. I'm a honey garlic chicken wing girl.) So the moral of the story is that I get along with spicy foods about as well as baking soda gets along with vinegar: it explodes.

But then my problem is that it’s difficult to find things with a good flavour. Most foods, especially vegetables, are either boiled and bland or grilled and spicy. So I’m looking for a perfect combination of the two. Carrots have always been my favourite snacking veggie, and if you ask my parents then they'll pull out their favourite stories with me involving diapers and carrots. While they are still yummy, I have gotten kind of bored snacking on the same food for over a decade. And there started my search for the perfect snacking vegetable.

For some reason, I thought that the HOT Pickled Carrots might be just what I’m looking for. There’s only one small piece of pepper in with all of those carrots, so this seemed to be a reasonable assumption, wouldn’t you think?

Well, I thought wrong. I took a bite of one of these hot carrots, and as I start chewing, I'm thinking that it's not so bad. There's a bit of a zing, but it still has the taste and texture of a normal carrot. I'm not a fan of mushy cooked carrots, so the crunchy texture was just perfect. But then one second passes, and another, and I realize that I'm losing feeling in my tongue! I thought it was a carrot, but it tasted like I was taking a bite straight out of a pepper! I took me three glasses of water and a banana to be able to taste again. But I still can't taste normally. And let me tell you, cupcakes do not go well with a spicy after taste!

Then I brought the hot carrots to a friend to see what he thought. And he loved them! Said that the spiciness was exactly what he loved, but could never find. Of course I think he's a bit crazy, but by the time I got back from getting a drink, the entire jar was empty. So the HOT carrots gets three thumbs up from him (he “borrowed” one of my hands) and a burnt tongue from me.

Well, I did enjoy the taste of the carrots before the pepper kicked in, so I figured I'd give the regular variety (without the jalapenos!) a try. And lo and behold, I found exactly what I was looking for. A nice crunch when I bit into it, soft to chew, and it tasted like a delicious carrot with a dash of extra flavour that made it better than the regular variety, and I could still feel my tongue after (which is an extra bonus). Ladies and Gentleman, I found my new favourite snack food! I give it four thumbs up!

Have you tried the pickled carrots? Who do you agree with? Am I right in saying that the most delicious one is the regular variety, or is my friend right in saying that the HOT carrots are the best? What do you think?

~Summer Pickle Blogger

Introducing Me

Hello everyone. I just wanted to introduce myself; I am the summer intern here at Sunshine Farms. It's my job to renovate our website to make sure that it gets across the feeling and impressions that we want. Because we're all about delicious pickles (and other pickled vegetables!), all natural organic products, and family to enjoy them with, we want our website to show that. So if you have any ideas, if there's anything you'd like to see on our website, or you just want to share your opinion on any of it, feel free to let me know! You can always leave a comment on the website, comment here on the blog, or send an email to info@picklesplease.ca. For those of you who haven't checked it out yet, the website is www.picklesplease.ca.

I'm also in charge of updating all of the social networking sites while I'm here. When you're checking out this blog, or our facebook or twitter, I'm the one you'll be hearing from. This frees up all our farmers so they can farm, and lets the picklers concentrate on pickling, while still making sure you stay up to date. So again, if there's anything you'd like to see, give me a shout!

Being here at sunshine farms has really opened up my eye to the pickled world. I had heard of dill pickles, and Sweet baby pickles, but Bread and Butter Pickles, Pickles Asparagus, Pickled Beets, Pickles carrots! I had no idea that any of them even existed, let alone that there was a “Zesty” version! So while I'm here, I'll be leading you through all of the different products as I give them a try, and as I feed my favourites (or just the extra spicy ones!) to my friends and family.

~ Summer Pickle Blogger