Just passing it on

I never thought too much of how pickles, beets, relish and other canned goods get from the garden to the jar.  I would eat them, enjoy them, but not think too much of the process of development.  My grandmother was a big canner.  Once my Nana stopped making them, my mom took on the task of making some of the pickled treats that we love.  She specializes in pickled beets though and Nan's mustard pickles were missing, so I decided it was time Icalled in the big guns (mom) and learned how to make them myself.

That was 2 years ago that my mom and I peeled and diced cukes till I thought I would cry.
It's taken that long for me to try it again!  HA!

The other day, my good friend, we'll call him Gardener D, stopped by with a whole basket of cucumbers and asked if I wanted to make something with them.  My mouth opened before my brain engaged and said "why, yes, of course, I'd love to!"  (Maybe canning is like childbirth....you tend to forget the pain until it is upon you once again and then it all comes back to you.)

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The kids were restless this past Saturday morning, so I set about charging each of them with a task.  Laundry for one, sweeping for another and peeling cucumbers for the other.  Quickly it became apparent that peeling was the sought after chore.  (light bulb goes off - "hey, maybe I don't have to peel one cucumber myself...I can get the kids to help!")

With 2 peelers, a seed gutter and me dicing things were going along at a decent pace.   Can't say there weren't some cucumbers that were looking mighty scalped on one side or still green in places after being attacked by the peeler, but hey, some help is better than none. 

In steps my knight in shining armor....

 

My fantastic hubby quickly was firing off orders for the job to be done correctly and some serious seed-gutting and peeling mentorship was happening here.

 



Music was blaring, seeds and peels flying everywhere yet each child was having a blast trying new steps to getting these cukes ready for transformation from plain ol' cucumbers to the illustrious "Lady Ashburnham's". 



 

These took a lot of effort, but the end result was worth it.  The kids got to see the process of making  mustard pickles.  They don't just happen.  Someone had to fuss with ingredients and show love through work for these to be created.  Well worth our time and definitely some great memories made by just passing it on.