Zesty Beans

A customer came to the farm today and bought a number of jars of the regular pickled beans, and the zesty pickled beans. While chatting with him, he mentioned that he loved them, and that his family couldn't get enough of them. It made me realize that I haven't actually tried the beans before, let alone the zesty variety. So I gave them a try. Why I thought that trying something spicy was a good idea again, I still don't know.

I tried the baby beets before, and while they are delicious, it was a challenge to get just one out of the bottle. These beans are in clear vinegar, so it was no problem seeing them, and with nice smooth tips, they were even easier to grab a piece of than the asparagus was.

Confession time - I was never a fan of green beans before. When my parents cooked them they were always mushy and kind of flavourless and so I just assumed that all beans were mushy by nature. So I was surprised when there was a nice good crunch to my bite. And talk about flavour! How could they be flavourless when they're ZESTY?

I'm smacking myself for thinking that the added jalapeno pepper wouldn't make them spicy. I made that mistake already! I also wished it wasn’t right before lunch; I would like to be able to eat my sandwich without my tongue burning! Well these were definitely spicy. Thankfully it wasn't quiet as spicy as the HOT carrots. These were definitely Zesty rather than incredibly HOT and I'm thankful for that. I've starting to regain feeling in my tongue, so maybe lunch won't be so bad.

Despite the level of hot-ness, they were really good. I couldn't stop myself from taking another bite. As I took my second bite, I realized that there are some things that are always the same in Sunshine Farms pickled products. They taste really crisp and fresh, and there's a good crunch in every bite. And I can always enjoy the flavour of the original vegetable, even when my tongue's burning!

After I finished a few of the beans, I forced myself to close the jar. I don't want to snack on it without realizing, like I did the asparagus. I was worried that I would never regain feeling in my mouth!! ( OK may be not that much, but they are still pretty Zesty)

Josh was telling me the other day that his son (who isn't even two yet!) loves the zesty asparagus. Well if the zesty asparagus is as hot as the zesty beans, then I say - Good Luck to you ! Mind you, I think the crazy love of spicy-ness runs in the family...

So do you like the hotness of the Zesty or the HOT vegetables better? Have you tried the pickled beans? Did you and your family love them as much as our customer who came in today?
~Summer Pickle Blogger

Canada Day Weekend

This weekend was Canada day. And what a lovely weekend it was! Here in Chatham-Kent we had sunny blue skies (with a side of sunburn) for the entire 3 days. I think it's a record!

Canada Day (Friday) was fun. My parents were at a friend's party and my brother spent the day playing golf (cliché, I know). So my sister revelled in having the house to herself as I went to my boyfriend's house for his family barbeque. After supper we left for a bit, and took my sister to the Canada D'eh celebrations downtown in the park. Then we all (my siblings, and his family) went to watch the fireworks.

Saturday was kind of a lazy day. My friend and her son came over for dinner and a swim while her husband was at work. She's been my friend so long they she no longer counts as a guest, she's just “un-official” family. She is about 8 months pregnant at this point and craving chocolate and pickles. Unfortunately, she wants them both at the same time. Chocolate is amazing, pickles are good, but pickles soaked in chocolate pudding just doesn't work for me. Well, as soon as she walked into my house she announced that she wanted pickles and went to find some. We had about half of a jar of Sunshine Farms Dill Pickles left in the fridge, I don't know how they lasted, I think they were hidden in the back. Thankfully, we had no chocolate pudding. But she gobbled down the pickles like there was no tomorrow and said that she finally satisfied her craving. I suppose that there are worse cravings to have, I just hope that when I get around to having kids in a few years that my cravings are as healthy as hers She’s always said that we have the best food, but apparently Sunshine Farms pickles take the cake (metaphorically) for the best food in the fridge. She loved the “yummy pickle-ey taste” and the “crunchiness in every munch!” Spoken like a woman with a toddler! (I'm having a pickle tasting party this coming weekend, so you'll get more details on the pickles then)

Sunday, everyone was home. We had over some friends of the family for, you guessed it, dinner and a swim. Ah, the benefits of having a pool! They are friends of my parents, so they are “official” guests and get the “Royal Treatment”. The house was scoured from top to bottom, the pool was cleaned, and hamburgers were just not going to make the cut at this barbeque. Chicken and beef shish kabobs was the main course, along with salad, garlic bread, and macaroni salad. To make it a bit more interesting, we added some of the Sunshine Farms Pickled Asparagus (cut into small pieces) to the salad, and it was delicious! It added a nice texture and a funky flavour that everyone loved. Despite the fact that the asparagus was pickled, it tasted just as fresh as the tomatoes we had picked that morning. It even tasted good when soaked in strawberry vinaigrette salad dressing! I wish I had thought of putting pickled asparagus in salad sooner.

Well, food like that takes time to prepare, so the swim came first while my dad was burning... umm cooking, on the barbeque. Which meant that yours truly had to prepare everything that wasn't being burnt, or “cooked”. And guests getting the royal treatment must have hors d'œuvres to munch on while supervising the kid’s swim.

Well, I’m not exactly the best cook, but even I can’t mess up a salad. So the hors d'œuvres had to be equally simple but still tasty. So we (aka, everyone but me) had “fancy” crackers with hummus, but that’s a little plain. So we added some of the Sunshine Farms Jalapeno Jelly. The jelly has a really strong flavour, with an equally strong spicy level. Thankfully the hummus balanced out the spiciness while still leaving the unique flavour. Well, saying that hummus and jalapeno jelly was a hit is as obvious as saying that the two teenage boys ate most of well, everything.

So did you have any weird pregnancy cravings involving pickles like my friend? Did Sunshine Farms Dill Pickles satisfy you just as much? Was your long weekend as fun packed as mine? What do you serve your “Royal Treatment” guests? Have you ever tried the jalapeno jelly? What did you think of it?

~Summer Pickle Blogger

P.S. I'm sorry to say that the jalapeno jelly isn't available in stores. So if you want to try some, you have to come out to visit me at the farm to get it! You can find our address on our website at http://www.picklesplease.ca/drupal/Contact