Homemade Zesty Garlic Dill Pickles

Homemade Zesty Garlic Dill Pickles

So my blogging came to a halt a year ago when I found out I was preggers!  I was wondering why I was craving pickles like CrAzY! 

Now's the time to start planning that summer garden!  Last year we tried the store bought packet and although they were good, there wasn't anything special about them.  After five batches of trial & error I have mastered the perfect mouth waterin', crispy crunchy zesty garlic dill pickles.

This recipe made 7 quarts full of spears

8 cups White Distilled 5% vinegar

7 cups water

3/4 cup Canning Salt

2-3 Garlic slivers per jar (if you don't LOVE garlic use 1-2)

1 red chili per jar (top stem part cut off)

3/4 tsp Crispy granules per jar

1/4 tsp Ground Turmeric per jar (Bye-Bye arthritis!)

1 Tbs Crushed Red Pepper to Water/Vinegar mixture

1 washed Muscadine leaf per jar

1 Dill head per jar

1. Cut ends of cucumbers off (this will add to the crispiness) & cut into spears & place into sterile jars.  I do this first so I know how to ratio my vinegar mixture.

 2. Place garlic slivers, chili pepper, dill head, muscadine leaf, turmeric, & crispy granules into each jar.

3. Bring vinegar, water, salt & crushed red pepper to a boil.  Ladle hot liquid into jars leaving 1/2 inch at the top.  Place lids on tight.

4. Bring water in large canning pot to boil first.  Once it is rolling, place jars in for 10 minutes. Water should cover the tops of the jars. Take out and place on cooling rack over night covered in dishtowels.

Discretion: These are for the serious pickle lover, as they are STOUT!

Enjoy!!!

Dining Chair Makeover!

I've been needing chairs to go at the ends of my dining table for quite some time.  I just haven't seen any that I fell in love with.  On Craigslist I found these and saw the potential.  I got all 3 for $50! I love them just as much as any $150 chairs I saw AND I don't have to be the 

angry mom yelling "DON'T DROP ANYTHING ON THEM!" =D

I started with taking the cushions off.  The seats had a screw in each corner underneath that made it real simple.  Word of advice: if you have more than one, label each seat to the chair, the screw holes are different and it will be easier in the end! 

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The chairs weren't in bad shape, in need of a good wipe down.  I chose Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Coco. It matches some gilded buffet lamps I painted.  That's one thing I LOVE about ASCP.  I paint several different things the same color and it pulls the room together.  I didn't paint the Cane-back part just to see what it looked like and I loved it! 

The next step was the most tedious.  It ended up being a family affair.  We popped all the staples up with a 

flat-head screwdriver then pulled it out with pliers.

Save one of the pieces of fabric to use as a template.  I cut about an inch or two around the template.  Don't worry about making it perfect, I trimmed a lot off after stapling it onto the seat.

Start by folding the top over and stapling all across with a HEAVY-duty stapler.  Staple about 1 inch from the edge of the seat leaving 1/4 inch of space in between each staple.

My wonderful mother helped me keep the fabric tight as I stapled.  

She is the seat re-cover queen.  This made the process SO much easier (and special).

Fold the side across from the side you just stapled and do the same.

Fold in the sides and staple across, leaving the corners undone.  The corners are the last thing to do.  It might take a little trial and error.  This part takes one person pinch & tucking while the other staples.

Last step was screwing the seat back on the chairs!

Voila!

-Hannah

God Makes the Seed Grow

This year I am determined to have my own gourd farm. That's right, gourds. I want the kind you can make birdhouses with. I looked everywhere in south Mississippi & half of Alabama last year trying to find some and til this day I am gourd-less! I started researching on how to grow them. It said it could take 1-8 WEEKS to germinate! I knew I had to get started! I bought a packet of seeds off the internet and bought a seed starting tray. “Hannah's Gourd Farm”. Catchy, right?!

I was so excited! They arrived and I planted them right away making the perfect little hole, tucking it in the dirt all gentle, adding the right amount of water. I had them sitting under the porch to make sure it had the exact amount of sunlight, not too much but not too little. Every morning I ran outside expecting to see my little green babies sprouting up out of the dirt.

Nothing. Zilch.

Feeling defeated, I asked farmer hubby to help. I got another packet of gourds and gave them to him & asked him to, “work his magic”. He takes them and goes to the dryest looking row in his garden. Dry due to the amount sun that hits that spot. That row is where he puts things that he says, “they make it if they make it”. Grrrrr. He lobs them in the ground in uneven amount of space apart. He then takes the aggressive hoe and smacks some dirt on top. I run to grab the water hose to sprinkle some life into that grungy dirt to give my gourd babies a fighting chance & he tells me to “just let the rain take care of it”. Uh, what? The next two weeks when hubby was away at work, I watered. Again, nothing. 

 I gave up.

A few days ago I went out to the garden to fill my watering can. Low & behold there was a sprout!!! Not only ONE baby gourd, but SIX!

Now, my husband & I joke about who is responsible for the awesome cultivating skills. I kindly shared this verse with him. ;-)

"I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow." 1 Corinthians 3:6-7

I often think back on some of my seeds where I struggled waiting for them to sprout.  I struggled to see the growth underlying in the hardened life-less soil.  It is absolutely amazing.  I am so thankful for God's timing and mercy.