Fourteen Day Icicle Pickles

Quite a few years ago I passed a few hours sifting through my mama’s recipe box.  There were recipes carefully printed on elaborate index cards bearing the name of the cook who had gifted her with their own take on this or that dish.  There were crumpled bits of recipes torn from magazines.  There were snatched kitchen notepad papers with handwritten notes on how to prepare everything from appetizers to entrees.  

It was easy to spot the best ones.  I had only to look for the most creased, stained and tattered paper - sure signs of frequent use.  I counted myself twice as lucky if mama had penciled in her own suggestions on how to improve a dish.  Then I hit the motherlode...my paternal grandmother’s Icicle Pickle recipe.  Handwritten.  Memory-laden.  Whoa.

Icicle pickles regularly masquerade as another region’s “bread and butter pickles” and are even called, by the southern US pickle aficionado,  “sweet pickles” now and then.  They’re crisp enough to rattle your teeth when you crunch into one eaten straight from the jar and add a special nuance when diced and thrown into a dish needing something sweet and spicy. But pickle-making ain’t for sissies.  It’s heavy work if you make enough of them in one go, and it requires daily attention for a full 2 weeks if you want to do it right.  It helps to have someone with a strong back on hand for lifting the crock.  Having jars of pickles lined up in your pantry is worth every minute spent in their preparation.  

At the end of the day, any good recipe is nothing more than a suggestion.  Any cook worth his or her salt actively seeks ways to improve or tweak a dish to better suit their palettes.  So it was with serious purpose and a healthy dose of trepidation that I decided to try my hand at granny’s pickle recipe.  I knew one certain thing - that I wanted to preserve the integrity of the pickles so that my own grandchildren would one day experience their own endorphin response when opening a jar of them!  Taking no short cuts and only reducing the amount of sugar used in the original recipe, I was extremely pleased with the results.  The recipe doubles (triples and quadruples!) easily so adjust quantities as necessary for the number of cucumbers you have on hand.  


Rona’s Icicle Pickles

Cut 2 gallons of fresh cucumbers lengthwise into a crock.  You’ll quarter larger pickles and cut in half the slimmer ones.  

Dissolve one pint of non-iodized salt in one gallon of boiling water.  Pour the brine over cucumbers.  Ensure that all cucumbers are fully immersed by weighting them down with an inverted dinner plate.  Cover with a kitchen cloth and let stand for one week, stirring them every day.  Drain off brine water.

Cover cucumbers with clear boiling water, weight them down and cover again with kitchen cloth.  Let stand 24 hours.  Drain.

Boil one gallon of water with 2 tablespoons of powdered alum.  Pour over cucumbers, cover again and let stand another 24 hours.  Drain.

Boil 2 quarts of cider vinegar and 4 pints of granulated sugar until sugar dissolves.  Pour over cucumbers.  Cover with kitchen cloth.  Drain, reserve and reheat vinegar/sugar mixture four consecutive mornings, pouring back over crocked cucumbers.

Next morning, drain and reserve vinegar/sugar mixture.  Heat canning lids and rings in a pan of water on your stove top.  Put cucumbers into hot, sterilized jars and add 1 tablespoon of pickling spice to each jar.  Heat reserved vinegar/sugar mixture to a boiling point and pour over jarred cucumbers.  Seal with lids and rings.  Invert on a clean kitchen towel to help seal.   Once cool all jars should have sealed properly.  If not, put unsuccessfully sealed jars into a 10-minute boiling water bath to seal.

Fourteen days I reply
when he asks how long it takes to make my sweet icicle pickles, syrupy juice trickling from the corner of his mouth, glistening, sticky pickle between his fingers, waving away my offer of a damp cloth to lick his hand clean.

The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature (March 2011)

Pickled Perfection!

Ellen Compton - Eggplant Casserole

Susan Nelson Myers has agreed to help with The Frugal Poet web site. Not only is she a gifted poet, but she's a fabulous cook and an expert at stretching food dollars. Thanks to Susan's willingness to teach me how to can foods and her father's garden, my pantry has jars of icicle pickles, dill pickles, marinara sauce, tomato bisque soup and various jams and jellies. Read more about Susan by clicking the About link on the right side of the page.

The Frugal Poet web site and its readers will benefit from her knowledge and expertise.

I've had the pleasure of meeting Ellen Compton a few times over the years. Ellen is our guest poet today with a recipe and a poem:

Eggplant Casserole

Good served alone or over rice or couscous. I also like to serve the leftovers cold, sometimes on good, crusty bread. For variety, I might stir in freshly grated Parmesan cheese, or add canned (drained) pinto beans.  You might try your favorite herbs, a few capers, Greek olives—any or all of these.  Or use 3 or 4 fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped, instead of the canned ones.

1 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium eggplant (unpeeled), cut in small cubes
1 bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, sliced
1 14.5-oz can diced, pealed tomatoes
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Coat all sides of a heavy pot with 1 Tbsp olive oil.

Add remaining ingredients and mix.

Cover tightly and cook over moderate heat until vegetables are tender (1/2 hour or longer), occasionally stirring or shaking the pot to keep from sticking.


tomato summer
      the sun
          on my tongue

[published in Modern Haiku 40:2, summer 2009]

A quick update

Great news! Susan Nelson Myers will help with The Frugal Poet web site. Find out more about Susan by clicking "About" on the right side of the page.


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Home and Bread Machines

I enjoy my weekends here at Poet’s Cottage. I’m usually awake by 5 AM, showered and sipping coffee by 5:30. I value this time of easing into the day, when I can read a few poems written by a friend or tweak a few things I’ve penned during the week.

Quiet time. A time of gathering thoughts and introspection. And yet, as I type these words, I’m suddenly aware of

the soft drone
of the refrigerator,
a percolating
coffee pot,
the soothing
swoooooosh
of heat passing
through air ducts,
a home
exhaling,
inhaling,
intermittent
popping
of walls
settling back
into
place

Our homes possess characteristics that make them seem alive. They are a reflection of our inner selves. Maybe I’m a candidate for adding a rubber room, but I’ve walked into my home after a long day at work and said, “Hello, nice clean home!” We become attune to the needs of our homes as poet Susan Nelson Myers accurately captures in this senryu:

empty winter nest -
discovering a new drip
in an old faucet

Prune Juice; Issue 6, Summer 2011

Stop and listen to your home. What do you hear? What does your home tell you? Walk through each room. Do you see a reflection of your personality, your creativity in your home?

We can live in many locations throughout our lives, but how many places can we truly call home? When I arrived at Poet’s Cottage, I texted a friend and said simply, “I’m home.” Today, I feel that I, too, have slipped into the rhythmic hum of the place that shelters me from the elements and keeps me warm.

One of the coolest gifts I received in recent months is a bread machine. The manual/recipe book had been lost but, thanks to the Internet, I found a free manual after a bit of googling. Having a fresh loaf of bread really is as easy as tossing a few ingredients into the machine and setting a timer for two or three hours. I’ve saved a few dollars by baking loaves of wheat, country white, carrot and cinnamon bread. Here are a few pictures of my bread machine and a loaf of homemade fresh bread.

Ingredients tossed into the bread machine

Front view of the bread machine

Timer set for 2 hours and 30 minutes

Fresh cinnamon bread from the bread machine

“Your home smells like fresh bread,” commented a friend, who stopped by for a visit. For those of us gifted with sensitive olfactories, the benefits of a bread machine exceed the taste of fresh baked bread and dollars saved.

Paula Fisher - War Cake & Hard Sauce

One of the greatest gifts we can give our descendants are those family recipes that have stood the test of time, old favorites that tantalize our taste buds and olfactories. What we prepare in our kitchens today could very well become a fond memory for a family member or loved one long after we are gone.

I have a friend who is in the process of compiling two handwritten recipe books for her daughters. Sure, she could hand write one book and photocopy the other, but is it the same? No. A time will come when those girls will prepare a meal from those recipe books and think, "That's my momma's handwriting."

Paula Fisher offers this family recipe. She writes:

This was made during WWI when there was a shortage of eggs and milk. Our family tradition has been to have it for Christmas, Fourth of July picnics and special gatherings.

Great-Grandma Goodman's War Cake

Combine the following ingredients and cook on low in a large saucepan on the stove-top until raisins are plump.

2 C coffee
1 C sugar
1/4 C margarine
2 C large seedless raisins (Muscat are best, Sun Maid sells in 5lb bulk boxes, use some, share/freeze the rest or use "Baking" or "Golden" raisins)
1/2 tsp cloves
1 tsp cinnamon

Remove and set aside to cool.

Sift the following ingredients together then mix with the cooled coffee/raisin mixture. Stir evenly to mix all ingredients and pour into greased and floured oblong (13x9x2) pan. Bake at 350 until done (about 45 minutes).

2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Serve squares of cake with Hard Sauce.

Hard Sauce (Also called Whiskey or Brandy Butter)

1 C butter, softened (not mushy or microwaved)
1 C confectioners sugar
1/4 C dark rum (or Irish Whiskey or Brandy)
1 tsp vanilla extract
A dash of nutmeg

Beat butter until fluffy (2 minutes), sift in sugar, continue beating, add rum, vanilla and nutmeg, beat on high for 5 minutes. Serve at room temp over warm cake. Can be covered and refrigerated for days...it will harden there so bring back to room temp before use.

Paula also sent the following haibun:

We had much needed rain during the night and a change in temperature that announced the coming winter. Walking around the house this morning, I moved many of the potted plants into the sun porch to keep them warm. With the drought that has plagued south Texas leaving so many trees in critical shape, it's hard to tell without being up close, which ones are naturally losing leaves. Around my yard there are several crepe myrtles and a few will not be coming back.

day moon
the sun lights up
a weathered face

As we placed yellow ribbons in the old oaks around the church today, I realized just how badly they've been damaged. Before brunch, we raised the flag for Veteran's Day and gave thanks to the men of our community who have served. In my family, five generations of military service, all came home alive but not all unscathed.

grandma's war cake
a little girl sighs
"no candy?"

paula

Making use of potatoes

Our first Christmas tree in our new home is beautiful in its simplicity. A few ornaments, candy canes and Christmas cards adorn the branches of a six foot Fraser Fir purchased for a few dollars at a roadside stand. Three hundred lights strung around the tree give it a magical glow visible through the living room window at night. And thanks to the thoughtfulness of a special young lady, a large red bow perched atop the tree has given it character that no glowing star could achieve.

Is it a perfect tree? No. There is an area to the left of the tree where the branches are bent slightly, giving it the illusion of a gap in its side. But the tree has been the perfect addition to Poet’s Cottage during this holiday season. The tree’s scent, vibrant green branches and, yes, its imperfections have endeared it to my daughter and me.

I will be saddened to remove it in a few days.

Stewed Potatoes

I recently purchased two bags of potatoes, a buy one get one free deal at the local grocery store. There are a lot of ways to make use of potatoes. My father’s specialty go to meal was stew beef, cornbread and stewed potatoes (that’s what he called them). He followed no recipe. Basically, he diced a few potatoes then tossed them into a pot coated with a little vegetable oil. He then filled the pot with enough water that left about two to three inches between the surface of the water and the potatoes. Boiling the potatoes slowly on a medium high setting was necessary to deter sticking. Finally, he seasoned his stewed potatoes with a stick of butter, salt and pepper prior to serving.

My father discarded the nutrient laden potato skins and, admittedly, I used to discard the skins too. Figuring in the frugal factor, I now bake the skins whenever a recipe calls for me to peel a potato. Here’s the recipe I use for baked potato skins:

Tater Skins

Baked Potato Skins

1 stick of butter
2 garlic cloves (pressed or minced)
potato skins
black pepper & salt to taste

- Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.
- When the butter is hot and bubbling, add the garlic.
- Saute the garlic until softened and fragrant (about 2 to 3 minutes).
- Place the potato skins in a large bowl.
- Pour the garlic butter over the skins and toss in the bowl until coated evenly.
- Place each potato skin, skin side down, on a shallow baking sheet.
- Sprinkle generously with pepper.
- Sprinkle lightly with salt to taste.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake the skins for 30-45 minutes or until hot, crisp and golden.

Here’s one of my poems, a scene I observed a few years ago; an old couple, very much in love, living frugally.

Diner

They sit in a booth made for two,
thin, frail, toothless. . .
he, in bib overalls and a tattered flannel shirt,
she, in a faded blue dress and yellowed sweater,
dining on grilled cheese sandwiches and hush puppies,
drinking sweet iced tea out of styrofoam cups,
surrounded by a lunch crowd
feasting
on platefuls of Carolina pork barbecue
(the scent of hickory-smoked meat thick in the air).

She takes a paper napkin, reaches across the table,
wipes a spot of ketchup
from the corner of his mouth;
he smiles, winks,
stops the waitress,
orders two spoons
and a single-serving of banana pudding.
Their hands, spotted with age,
join in the center of the table;
their backs
curved by time
into a perfect bow.

Sketchbook - August 31, 2008, Vol. 3, No. 8

Comfort Food - Cornbread

There's nothing like a bowl of soup or chili on a cold winter day to warm you from the inside out. I'm a chili fanatic. I like veggie chili, chicken chili, chili beans and just plain ordinary chili flavored with ground turkey, beef and/or pork.

I also enjoy a fresh out of the oven slice of cornbread to go with my chili. Requested by my good friend, Howard Lee Kilby, here's a cornbread recipe that's super easy to make.

Bacon Buttermilk Cornbread

Fry five or six pieces of bacon, reserve bacon fat.

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk

Combine dry ingredients; add beaten egg and buttermilk, mixing well. Pour into greased (reserved bacon fat) heated 8-inch or 9-inch iron skillet. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned.

There should be nearly a quarter inch of bacon grease in the bottom of the heated skillet prior to adding the cornbread batter. You can also stir a few other ingredients into the batter. I added chopped bacon, a chopped jalapeno pepper, eight ounces of cream style corn, and a little shredded cheddar cheese to my batter yesterday.

To serve, flip the cornbread out onto a dinner plate, slice and slather with butter. :)

Here's one of my poems that seems appropriate for this post:

Belle

I sat with Belle today,
on a blanket,
under a pine tree.
She told me about her new recipe
for cracklin’ cornbread.
My eye lids became heavy,
I could smell cornbread baking;
I grew warm inside.
I asked questions
to prolong her stay,
how much jalapeno did you say?
drunk again,
under a Virginia pine
on that sweet Georgia accent.

The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature - October 2010 edition

Colin Stewart Jones - Tequila Shots

What a pleasant surprise to wake up to the sound of rain on the roof of Poet’s Cottage this morning. Methinks it’ll be a good day to hibernate on the couch to read, write and maybe catch another Harry Potter movie with my daughter. I may even stay in my jam jams today. I have no place to be, no appointments looming on the horizon.

Of course I’ll have to cook something; I love to dabble in my kitchen. Perhaps chicken noodle soup or a loaf of fresh baked bread, rum raisin oatmeal cookies are certainly a possibility. Part of what makes a home special are the inviting smells that greet you at the door. I want people to walk into my home and feel as if they are home.

I posted the following about my grandmother on Facebook recently. Originally published in The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, I think it best surmises why it’s important for me to give my children fond memories of a warm home with tasty foods and delectable odors.

Southern Legitimacy Statement #4

My Granny Stephens cooked on a woodstove: pinto beans and turnip greens seasoned in fatback, fried potatoes, cornbread, biscuits and gravy served with fresh out of the barn yard fried chicken. Occasionally, I was sent down into the cellar to retrieve jars of canned tomatoes, chow chow, or icicle pickles. We'd have southern-style tea and lemonade, sweet, succulent, better than store-bought soda pop. And if you could discipline yourself and not overeat, you'd save room for peach cobbler or fried apple pie. Granny knew her woodstove inside-out, top to bottom, and was a master at creating a large delicious meal out of very little food…sort of like what Jesus did with a few fish and a loaf of bread. You had the feeling that something holy had been conjured-up when you sat down at Granny's table, which is another reason we said grace before every meal.

Published in the July 2010 issue of  The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature.

My pal Colin Stewart Jones has a recipe and a poem to share.

Tequila Shots

Ingredients:

1 - 2 bottles of tequila

6 - 8 limes

salt

and add some friends

As with all recipes the quality of the ingredients is paramount:

Gold tequila is best; Cuervo is a very good reasonably priced option and for this recipe two bottles are better.

Limes should be unwaxed; washing the limes is not mandatory as the alcohol should take care of any germs or bugs the limes may harbour.

The salt can be any old salt you have around the house; sea salt is good for flavour but not essential and does increase the preparation time as it must be crushed first . . .

Preparation:

Halve each lime along its length and then cut into slices.

Fill your salt shaker.

Ensure you have enough clean shot glasses for each of your friends.

* If you are drinking alone have at least two glasses to cut down on the preparation time.

Unscrew your bottle of tequila and fill each shot glasses with around 50 ml of tequila.

Method:

Lick the back of your hand and sprinkle some salt on it.
The more salt the better as this will increase your blood pressure.
Lick the salt from the back of your hand

Neck a shot of tequila

Pick up a slice of lime and sink your teeth into it making sure you are squeezing all the juice from the lime in the one fluid movement.

Repeat the process as and when required.

Cooking Time:

Depends on your capacity for alcohol but is usually instantaneous.

The effects can last into the next day.

salt and lime

gimme salt and lime every time
‘cause it keeps the scurvy away,
you see
it’s the only fruit I eat
but oh how I love to drink
Tequila all of the time

if ever a drink was mine
then Mescal does just fine
I love the worm
for protein of course
 …it tastes like peanuts
and a little Mexican earth

dos tequila por favor
keep ‘em coming
I want more

Cookies - Peanut Butter Delight and Thank you

Life has a way of throwing you an unexpected curve. Who among us are in the place, the circumstances imagined decades or even months ago? Having surgery last July and becoming a single parent two months later was certainly not on my to-do list. I must confess that I’ve had moments when I thought to myself, This is not the way it was supposed to be.

But life is about growth. We glean lessons from our experiences and move on. I’ve not dwelled too much on making a better home for my daughter and myself. The most difficult part in making that transition was taking that initial step. I took that step and was surprised to see an outpouring of love and support from good people here in this small southern town, that extended to friends in other states and beyond to my poetry brothers and sisters (and cousins!) from around the world. The greatest gift any of us will receive during this time or any other time throughout the year is a sincere, caring friend. Friends are the buffers who cushion the unexpected bumps on life’s road.

So, a sincere “Thank you” to all who have gifted me with friendship. And a heartfelt “Thank you” to those of you who donated items to my daughter, Alana, and me for our new home.

We hope your holiday season will be a joyous one. Merry Christmas!

The local grocery stores sells these cookies at an outrageous price. It's much cheaper and fun to make these tasty morsels from scratch.

Peanut Butter Delight

2 ½ cups quick oatmeal
8 tablespoons peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 stick butter
2 cups sugar
½ cup milk
4 tablespoons cocoa

Put oatmeal and peanut butter into a bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a pot. Add sugar, milk, and cocoa and boil for 1 ½ minutes. Remove from heat and quickly add oatmeal, peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Drop spoonfuls onto wax paper or pour into a buttered pan. Let cool and cut into squares (if you poured the mix into a buttered pan).

I apologize for not posting Colin Stewart Jones's recipe in a timely manner. I've had a busy week. Colin's recipe will be posted next.

Christmas Eve –
my children pretend
to snore

The Heron's Nest V:3, 2003

Pizza Dough

I never buy pizza dough now that I know how to make my own. It's really not that difficult a chore. The satisfaction of creating pizza from scratch, one that your family and friends will enjoy is priceless. Roll up your sleeves and grab the flour. We've got pizza to make.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cup wheat flour (or skip this and the above measurement and use 4 cups all purpose flour)

1 cup water

1 package active dry yeast

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 cup oil (I use olive oil, but canola and vegetable will work)

Pour sugar and yeast (magic fairy dust) into a container large enough to hold 1 cup of water.

Add 1 cup of warm water. Warm water and sugar activates the yeast. Be sure the water is not too hot; 100 degrees is a good temperature for the yeast.

Stir the yeast and sugar in the water and allow it to sit for about 8 minutes. A foam will form (it's alive! alive!).

While the yeast is activating, whisk flour and salt together until it's well blended.  

  

Push the middle of the flour out to the side, creating a small hole in the middle of the flour.

Pour the yeast, sugar, water mixture into the middle of the bowl.

Add the oil and stir the ingredients of the bowl thoroughly (I use two wooden spoons). Continue stirring until the consistency of a dough is formed.

Put the dough onto a floured surface.  

Cover your fingers in flour and knead the dough thoroughly for 6 to 8 minutes. This video will show you how to knead dough.  

Coat a bowl with olive oil. Add the dough ball, turning it a few times to coat thoroughly with the olive oil.

Cover the bowl of dough with a dish towel and sit it in a warm place. A temperature of about 70 degrees works well.

Wait for an hour (allowing the dough to rise). Remove the dish towel and punch the dough, working it back down to nearly its original size. The picture below is prior to slugging the dough.

Wait an additional 30 to 45 minutes, then divide the dough (we're making two pizzas!). Sprinkle a 12 inch pizza pan with corn meal then push or press the dough out until it covers the entire surface of the pan.

You're ready to add your toppings. Bake your pizza in a 450 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until the bottom of the pizza becomes a golden brown color.

Here are a few pizzas I've made.

Pepperoni

Pineapple, jalapeno, red onion

Chicken pizza with mushrooms

Taco pizza (prior to going into the oven)

Two slices of taco pizza with diced tomatoes, lettuce and sour cream

My pal, Alexis Rotella, penned this splendid tanka about food:

Before he arrives

I run out to buy

his favorite flowers

and every food

he said he loved.

I'll post a recipe and poem by Colin Stewart Jones tomorrow.