Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Sweet Pickles

Today my great-grandmother's sweet pickles... which I now make... were featured on Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor and submitted to Two for Tuesdays (on girlchef). Thanks, Tina!

Check out Tina's article below and also go to her site for fabulous recipes!


Brownie’s Sweet Pickles for 2-for-Tuesday
Pierce
Do I have your attention with this photo? Would you be thinking, "Seriously...she's eating deviled eggs and washing them down with wine and is trying to pass this all off for the Real Food theme?!"



Don't be too quick to judge because I have a very nice story for you and yes, it's about Real Food.

Let me take you back in time for Two for Tuesdays. Years before blogging, computers, convenience foods……….back to a time when great grandmother grew many of the vegetables she used to nourish her family.

What you see here is not just a jar of homemade sweet pickles.



You are also looking at a legacy; a tradition brought alive by a young woman named Celia who brings the sweet memories of her childhood into tangible new memories for her husband and son. The young lady has duplicated her great grandma’s recipe. Now I know I would rather eat a pickle from a hand made traditional recipe instead of one from that smart-ass stork with the Brooklyn accent, peddling Vlasic pickles.

A short story: Celia’s great grandmother “Brownie” grew cucumbers and from some of those cukes, she made sweet pickles. From what I’ve been told, the great grandmother was a phenomenal cook but the pickles really stood out as a specialty. When she died five years ago, the homemade jarred gifts from her kitchen were missed by her family (as was great grandmother, obviously).



Celia figured out the correct ratio of ingredients and duplicated Brownie’s recipe. Sharing them with family, watching them enjoy something from their past that brought pleasure to the palate as well as reviving memories of a loved one …… I can’t think of a finer tribute.

I have enjoyed them right from the jar ........


but I also used them in deviled eggs and found them to be a very complimentary addition.



No need to post a recipe for deviled eggs...you know it; just mix the mayo with the yolks, salt and pepper, a pinch of garlic powder....mince some homemade pickle and there you have it! I added a bit of shredded cheddar and smoked paprika. (Well look, I gave the "recipe" anyway)




Oh, and why are these pickles called Brownie’s?
I was told this was the nick-name Celia’s great-grandfather called his wife. I think great-grandmother “Brownie” would be mighty pleased to know her sweet pickles are enjoyed by so many people.

This humble offering is basic real food (our theme at 2 –for-Tuesday) and since I had the pleasure of trying these homemade beauties, I had to share. If you are a sweet pickle fan, I highly recommend them. You're in for a treat!

By the way, these pickles are available for purchase locally in the Tallahassee and Southern Georgia area or through through the mail. Just order via this address:

BrowniesSweetPickles@yahoo.com

Cheers to real food and keeping traditions alive!

24TbadgeGIRLICHEF
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Monday, June 28, 2010

Wainscoting in Bathrooms

The wainscoting was finally finished this past week. Thank goodness I no longer see concrete walls. I love the way it turned out. The original bathroom never had baseboards, but the trim guy milled some to look just like the rest of the house... he even did a smaller version for our chair rail. I love it... just matches the other rooms perfectly!! The Hall Bath is a dark charcoal and the kid's bath is a rich chocolate. We are still undecided as to whether or not we should paint the ceilings the same color? Or should we even go a shade lighter on the ceiling?? Or leave it white??? We will be putting the original crown moulding back up around the ceiling... and that's white. What should we do? (click on photos to see larger picture)

Hall Bath



Kid's Bath

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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Who needs a dart board???

We have finally gotten to the point where the major "destruction" of the house is over with and we're on to seeing progress and finalizing some rooms. We've decided that we're going to get our major living spaces livable and as completed as possible and move in. That means our formal living room and dining room will be closed off and completed after we move in... a.k.a. Hank comes home and works in the evenings, etc. Our downstairs bathrooms will be fully completed, the master bedroom, little man's bedroom, the kitchen, breakfast room, and as much of the hallway as possible. Our third bedroom downstairs will basically be a furniture storage room for now and we'll get around to that "whenever". Last weekend was finally time to work on Grady's room...

This is what it looked like before........



We've pulled off all the crown moulding so it can be stripped of paint and we've also stripped all the doorways and baseboards in the room. They've been sanded and primed now. As we were getting ready to prime the walls, we noticed we needed to spackle the nail holes... no big deal, right?.... seriously.... were they used as a dart board? I'm still finding some that we missed...





I'm so excited to get his room painted and make it a "Little Boy Room"!!
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Monday, June 14, 2010

Kitchen Cabinets

Our cabinets finally went in! We're so happy to finally see some progress in the kitchen... we already have our appliances, so those will go in soon. We have replaced the windows in the kitchen... and have a small desk that goes by the fridge, but they are not in these photos. Our granite countertops have been ordered and we're waiting for the guys to install them. Then.... the backsplash will go in, the window trim will go up, and we'll be finished in the kitchen!!! Whew!!!!!! :)




Our electrical panel is in the kitchen and we had no idea what we were going to do to cover it up. It was an eye sore. Our cabinet guy came up with this handy-dandy little idea. Worked perfectly!!

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Thursday, June 10, 2010

New Walls!

We finally have walls back up!!! It's great to finally see some progress where we saw open studs for awhile! Hank had a guy he knows come up and do our hardcoat on our sheetrock. It's great... it's just like the other old walls in the house... perfectly smooth.




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