Hi Folks
Its been a long long, long time. The reason will be a whole blog in itself and is highly entertaining, however, today I am going to return you to my world with the almighty power of the pickle. If you thought cheese had all the glory, take a foray into the Alaskan Pickle Craze as I like to call it.
A little background: Alaska in general, but my area in particular the Mat-Su Valley, being the agriculture belt, loves to can. Jams, jellies, krauts, sauces, smoked meats, vegetables of all kinds and much more, serves a major purpose, to get us through the cold, dark eight months of winter. Now “to get through the winter” might mean that placing some deep rich sunset colored summer in a jar something or other on your table is just the right palate pleaser to chase away the winter doldrums or it could truly serve as a subsistence service, living the lifestyle that many in AK have either chosen or been born into by keeping the family fed until next year. I like to claim somewhere in between those two. Nothing is better in January than popping open your own mason jar of applesauce and pairing it up with a squash fritter or potato pancake. It immediately transports you to the Autumn; The golden smell of fall itself, the bluebird sky and brilliant leaves, the haul of apple bags back to the kitchen where pots, strainers, jars and cinnamon are ready and waiting. This whole experience is right there with you once again, the minute you open the jar. The practicality of canning is that I also like to stock the pantry up with as many homemade products as I can because anything I can harvest and make from local products which removes me from the grocery store is a major plus. Since moving to the Valley I have not purchased a single jar of jelly, applesauce, or commercial cranberry. I will go further to say it was all wild harvest. Go me!
Which brings me to what is not wild harvest and what you may not associate with Alaska. If I ever left my beloved state the one thing that would remain synonymous with life in AK to me is- drum roll please….. PICKLES! I live across from a U-pick. Its an amazing place with varied produce, festivals and friendly farmers. Whatever I am not growing in my own garden I can walk over and pluck out of the earth hours before I cook it. This is not unlike New Jersey. The farmers markets and U-picks are plenty. Nothing new here folks. What is new are the lengths that Alaskans will go to for their share of pickling cucumbers. In mid summer I started hearing this buzz about where to get the best cucumbers, how many you can get in one purchase, what are the harvest times based off the weather? Everywhere, everyone was talking about cucumbers. Now, I had never even thought of making my own pickles before let alone that there would be good cucumbers growing in this region. One day I was at the U-pick and they alerted me that the next day was Cuc day and I had better get there early if I had any chance of getting my 20 lbs allowance. Come again? Crazy talk! Who wants 20 lbs. of cucumbers and how early is early and just WHY? I didn’t get it. I was informed of the bickering and confrontations in line over who gets how many and realized the 20 lbs. per person became rule so that one person would not walk away with the whole weeks harvest. Bickering can turn to brawl pretty quickly here and I understood the necessity. So where am I? Well, when there is a crazy train rolling through your town you get on board. The madness of it all made me WANT pickles. I HAD to have 20 lbs. of cucumbers because everyone else did and to boot, I was directly across the street from the supply. Honestly, the side show aspect of witnessing a brawl over pickling cucs had me hooked but besides all that, oh Lordy, was I going to be set! I would show everyone that I could assimilate to valley lifestyle, and do so with dill finesse. I do love a good sweet gherkin and Keith loves dill. Two worlds collide. So I read up on pickling pickles, bought gallons of vinegar, fresh dill and spice supply and prepared to stand in line BEFORE 8 a.m., like I was told. I woke up, put the kid in a garden cart and rolled over to a short line by Lower 48 standards but a surprising line by AK standards. I witnessed five people carry 20 lbs. of pickling cucs away to their vehicles and by the time I got to the counter I was informed I was too late. In a New York Minute, 100 lbs of fresh pickling Cucumbers gone! Crazy train kept rolling with me hanging on tightly. I went back to the U-pick several times to coordinate the time of the next harvest with my early morning wake up and assured place in line. I would not fail. This time Keith was home and we could get the kid up and going quicker. The day came and we succeeded. We were third in line which I was surprised at since we were 45 minutes early. This craze is no joke. While standing in line waiting for the stand to open a sudden rationality overcame me. I started convincing myself I could not handle 20 lbs. of produce. They had to be canned within two days! All of them. A moment of panic. What to do? My turn came and with big relieved smiles the farm manager and her helper put two 10 lb bags up on the counter. “I am so glad you made it today” she said. “Me too.” But then, I made the supposedly rational mistake of only asking for 10 lbs. “Are you sure,” they said? “Yes, I am sure” I reply.
Fast forward 6 weeks later. The first jar of sweet pickles has been tapped. OH MY LORD! Just stand back and let me savor this moment in history. What have I created?
Forward 3 months later. The first jar of dill is cracked open. Just STOP! Heaven. Green crisp heaven submerged in vinegar. Seriously the best tasting pickles I have ever had. In all our differences, Keith has agreed this is the truth. I now understand. I am on board and have secured my passage on the Alaskan Pickling Craze Crazy Train for all time.
“Hey Lady, do you want 40 lbs. of pickles?”
“YES, yes I do, I am sure.”