More sour food!

Last Monday I posted about vinegar, and today I'm writing about pickles - another kind of sour food. Usually when pickles are mentioned in the "Little House" books, they refer to any kind of pickled (brine-cured) vegetable. These days, though, cucumber pickles are overwhelmingly more common than other kinds of pickles. 

Pickles are even branded as a "Snack on the Run!" Would you eat a big dill pickle as a snack?

In the "Little House" homemade spirit, you can make your own pickles just as Ma did! The first thing to know when you begin is that there are a few different kinds of cucumber pickles you can make. The Little House Cookbook is, as always, a great resource for authentic recipes. 

• "Fresh-pack" or "quick process" pickles are cucumbers combined with hot vinegar and seasonings, then refrigerated. Here's a recipe for this kind of pickle. 
• Fermented pickles are soaked in a brine solution for several weeks. Bubbies is one passionate brand of fermented pickle without any vinegar. This is the most "authentic" or old-fashioned type of pickle, according to my limited research. 
• "Refrigerated dills" are cucumbers marinated for a few days in seasoned brine. They keep for up to two months. 

I strive to make my LHCO posts informative, fun, and unique.* Please use the social media below to let me know if I succeed! 
Elizabeth
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*"Unique", here, means "so far off the beaten path that it borders on the bizarre." Just keeping it real. Anyway, thanks for reading, and come back soon. :)