Whoa!

Been way too long since I updated this baby. Realized this just now, when I was looking up directions on Tuvan throat-singing, which is a style of singing that uses the larynx and the shape of the mouth to produce more than one note at a time. Cool!

I spent a little time trying to figure it out on a long drive recently, but I want to actually figure it out now.

Also on the list of things to do:

Go to Portland for vacation (leaving Wednesday, wooo!)

Buy more camera stuff/take more pictures/process more pictures

I'm hoping to do some kind of volunteering, preferably with animals. There's a zoo and several shelters nearby.

I really want to get a tattoo, but that'll be a while yet.

Go camping/hiking

Get rid of the belongings I don't need.

Pickles! I did it!

Wednesday, I had a class canceled in the morning.

I took it as a sign - well, I saw I had a chance.

So I went to a local produce stand (as in, the stand was local, not the produce... bizarre, but I guess it's a little early). They had a big basket of pickling cucumbers, $1.29 a pound. I bought more than I thought I needed, planning to make two jars immediately and then one more in the future. I got lucky, though, because I had exactly one extra pickle from those two jars.

I followed a recipe I found on a popular cooking forum, adjusting when I couldn't find certain things.

There was habenero and jalapeño peppers, baby dill, all sorts of spices, and a head of garlic between the two jars. Oh, and 4 cukes each. the brine was 1:1 water and vinegar, with some amount of pickling spice, I forget.

First: Cut everything and put it the jar. This is a good opportunity to make it look very pretty.

Then make the brine, and boil it for 2-3 minutes.

Finally, strain the hot brine into the jars, leaving a bit of headroom so a seal can form.

One of mine didn't seal properly, so it went into the fridge. I expect it to still pickle fine, though.

They should be ready in about a week! I'm very excited, because I can already see the colors changing in there, looking more pickly!

This Week's Theme: Pickles

But not just pickles, any type of food preserving, really. Vegetables/fruit are the core of my focus, and I find myself wanting to pickle cucumbers, okra, peppers, or make kim chi, sauerkraut, anything. Every time I see a recipe for something interesting, I become even more intrigued at the idea of doing it.

I'm hoping to follow through with this, but I'm not sure what I'll make at this point. Pickling cucumbers, obviously, would be the easiest in terms of recipes and ingredients, but I never find myself eating pickles. Sauerkraut would let me eat Ruebens all the time, but needs a cool, dark place to sit for weeks.

Actually, that's a problem with a lot of recipes. My apartment has a living room and a bedroom, and my roommate could not be pleased.

My choices are to either find a recipe that works in the refrigerator, doesn't smell, or maybe I should just clean out the closet...