Refrigerator Pickles

Homemade pickles! These jars of crunchy cukes are lining the entire top shelf of our fridge currently.

They are so much better than any store bought pickle - they have a great "snap," aren't too salty, and have tons of dill flavor without any preservatives or chemicals. Best yet, they are super easy to make - no canning needed! All you do is pop them into jars or Tupperware containers and store them in the fridge. In fact, they are better this way because they stay much crunchier than if you can them in a hot water bath.

We have a million cucumbers from our garden right now, so pickling them is the best way to use 'em up. But you can of course use cukes you get from the grocery store. Just pack them tightly into canning jars or any other container (you want them all touching), and fill in the cracks with garlic, onions and other flavorings.

Then fill the jars with a hot brine made of vinegar, water and salt. Screw on the lids, and set them in the fridge to cool down.

 

You're supposed to wait 10 days for them to properly "pickle," but they start tasting like pickles after only about 5 hours, so that's my suggested wait time. If you can wait a full 10 days before chomping into one, you deserve a medal. We are pickle addicts, so our jars are usually all gone within a day or two. 

Refrigerator Dill Pickles

4 pounds, 4-inch cucumbers (enough to fill three large, quart-sized or six small pint-sized canning jars)

2 cups white vinegar

1 cup cider vinegar

3 cups water

1/4 cup pickling salt

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 medium onion, sliced

3 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns

1 1/2 Tbsp. whole mustard seeds

6 Tbsp. dill, minced

In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, water and salt and bring to a boil. Boil until salt is dissolved, then take off heat.

Meanwhile, pack cucumbers into jars and top with garlic, onions, peppercorns, mustard seeds and dill. Fill each jar with an equal amount of the hot vinegar mixture. Screw lids on and store in the refrigerator. Pickles are ready to eat within 5-6 hours, but will last in the fridge for two weeks.

Clam Digger

A few days ago Matt went out boating with a few of his friends, and on a whim they decided to go clamming. Matt's been craving clams for the last week or so, and he didn't come home disappointed. A $10 clamming license and a fun day in the bay sent him home with 115 clams!

Life is good by the beach. :) The first thing we did when he brought that giant bucket home was purge the clams. This is super easy to do and ensures you don't get any sand in your teeth. We do this even when buying clams from the store or fish market because even a small speck of gritty sand turns me off to the rest of the meal.

First just dump your clams into a big bowl of salt water (about 1/4 cup salt for every gallon of water) and let them soak.

After about 20 minutes, the clams will have pushed out most of the sand and salt they have collected. The sand will fall to the bottom of the bowl, so instead of dumping out the clams, just pick them out one by one and set them in a strainer in the sink. Then rinse and scrub them with a fine scrub brush. Then dig in!

Kidding. That was all Matt. I am definitely not a clams on the half shell kind of gal. In fact, I'm not much of a clam person, but I happily ate my way through this batch this week. They were so tender and flavorful! 

One night I made a stovetop "paella" by combining brown rice, soyrizo (that's chorizo made with soy), crushed tomatoes, green peppers and onions, shrimp, clams, fresh parsley and a ton of seasonings, and it was a knockout.

And last night we had our friends Chris, Vanessa and Adam over for a clam feast (Vanessa had watched Riker while the boys went tubing down the creek for the afternoon - don't you think we should all be teachers and have summers off?). When I arrived home from work, I was immediately served a glass of white wine and a bowl of clams and orzo.

We also noshed on shrimp doused in a homemade Old Bay sauce. Soooo good.

As if the feast and company weren't good enough, after dinner Adam and Vanessa insisted on making me sit and relax while they did the dishes. Um, don't have to ask me twice! ;-)

We spent the rest of the night chatting and having drinks on the patio until it was time for bed. I love hanging out with friends mid-week, it makes the work week feel so much shorter. And on that note, it's time for work!

The Big Day

Lindsay's big day has finally come and gone. And what a great day it was. :)

I headed over to Lindsay's parents' house first thing Saturday morning to spend the day with the bridal party. It was so fun spending all day with the girls, sipping on mimosas, eating bagels and getting our hair and makeup done. 

Around 2:30, we put our dresses on, watched Lindsay descend the stairwell in her beautiful gown, and took some photos before heading to the church. Doesn't she make a gorgeous bride?

She was also a very calm bride. :) Lindsay is one of the most chill people I know, which came in handy when her limo didn't show up to take her to the church. She stayed cool as a cucumber, and thankfully everything worked out and the ceremony kicked off only 15 minutes late. 

Once the ceremony was over, the whole bridal party piled into a party bus and spent the next few hours hanging out and romping around the beach at Asbury Park.

By the time we got to the country club for the reception, I was starving and definitely ready for cocktail hour. There was a lot to choose from, but I definitely partook in the mashed potato bar and the coconut shrimp. I was too impatient to snap any pics, but I can tell you they were both delish!

An hour or so of dancing later our salads were served, and I was excited to dig in after seeing the grilled shrimp and toasted pecans.

Too bad I didn't realize it was dressed with a warm bacon vinaigrette! I got about halfway through before I realized something didn't taste quite right. Fail. Oh well, I survived.

Dinner was surf and turf, which worked out fine for me and Matt. I traded him my steak for his crabmeat-stuffed shrimp. I also ate every last vegetable on my plate. They were so good!

You see that purple orchid there? My friend Cathleen's boyfriend swore that we were supposed to eat them, despite our whole table assuring him that orchids are just for garnish. Before we could stop him, he shoved that thing in his mouth and swallowed it down. I died laughing. Do any of you actually eat those things?

Lindsay and Ryan had a few special surprises for their friends and family throughout the night, but my favorite would have to be when Ryan and his sister surprised Lindsay with their rendition of "Jersey Girl." So sweet.

The whole night was so much fun, and we danced for hours on end. After the official reception ended, they had an after-party onsite complete with a DJ, open bar and snacks (yes, I caved into a mozzarella stick ;-) I love going to weddings, especially when all my best friends are there. It was a blast. 

Congrats Lindsay and Ryan, I couldn't be happier for you!

Sunday

Matt and I spent the night with the bridal party at the wedding hotel, and when we came home on Sunday we went straight to a family party. It was crazy hot, so chilled seafood and a dip in the pool were perfect.

Lovin' summer!