I am not a winner of contests.

BUT, I just knew I was going to win one if not both of the contests at the Weaver Heritgage Day Festival this past Saturday. I was certain I was going to be wearing the sash that said I had made the BEST CORNBREAD or had the PRETTIEST PICKLING items. Was certain.

So back in the summer I scouted all over the county looking for Pickling Cucumbers. I handled them in the farmers market, the grocery stores, peoples gardens and everywhere just looking for the perfect pickling cukes.  I asked folks about them and was told yeah, these will do......but I didnt buy. Then I called my mother in law that lives in a neighboring county, and she said well you need them to be a certain size and so on. Ok, back on the hunt for the most perfect cucumbers. 

I finally was about to give up and I found a local farmer that was selling his wares and one of the produce items he had for sale was cucumbers. They were pretty too. They were green and firm but there was no sign that said they were pickling cucumbers. Now being new to the canning game, I thought you had to have PICKLING CUCUMBERS like that was a breed or a variety special to the recipe. After NOT buying them all these months, I had waited until almost the very last minute to get the job done, and time was wasting fast. So I bit the bullet and finally uttered those words that will live in the lady clerk's memory forevery.  I know that because I can still hear her laughing at me.   I walked to the counter and placed my money on the counter and asked her point blank when the pickling cucumbers would be in . She said "Honey, they are back there just take as many as you want and think you will need."  I looked all over the counter. There was nothing telling me that they were pickling cucumbers, just plain on cukes on a shelf.  So I go back and thats when she tells me that ANY cucumber can be pickled. Anything just about can be pickled. And she laughed. Out loud. Long and with a wheeze and a grab at her side. She asked me why I hadnt bought them all the other times I had been in there and I told her I was looking for PICKLING CUCUMBERS.  More laughter.  Ok, I bought them and came home.

I had gone to the store and gotten the rings, lids, and jars needed for the task. I had the sugar, the recipe the lime and all I needed was the Pickling Spices. Do you know how much they are charging for those things nowadays?

I almost fainted. Thought sure I could get them cheaper at a Dollar store somewhere, so after driving all over the county to save a dollar or less on a bottle of spices and the other stuff it took, I finally got the needed items to start pickling.

Now in the recipe book it says to wash the cucumbers before you put them in the lime water. Ok. I took each and every single cucumber and washed them, not rinsed them but held with one hand on the end and put dish liquid on them and washed them with the other hand. It was a strange motion if you were a neighbor and looked through the window at me doing this jerking motion about my waist high and if you looked from behind it looked strange, but I was indeed washing each and every cucumber with Dawn dish liquid and then rinsing them. Each one of them.

Got them all washed and dried and then I had to cut them into slices. OK. Did that. Put them in the lime water and left them and stirred them as it said. Cant be a metal pan, cant use a metal spoon, has to be a crock, etc.    By now I am having some serious doubts about these pickles but I am half in and half out of the chore so might as well go on.

Out of the water they have to come and it said to wash them off, so again, I washed every single slice of limey cucumber. Every individual slice.  It took hours. My back and body hurt so bad. Then I had to boil the stuff that goes over the packed jars.  Forgot that you have to wash and sterilize the jars before you can pack them.   So, I get the slices out of the crock, then have to put them back in the crock while I boil the jars and the lids to pack them. Now the stock pot that I am using to sterilize these jars and lids is several feet tall, so by the time you get it on the stove, its a little hard to work with since I am not a tall person so it called for getting a stool to stand on to stir the jars while they "cooked."  No one tells you that they dont have to cook, just boil and sterilize.  I cooked the jars and lids until there was no water left. Those were some hot rings, lids and jars.  I got a very good steam bath from that incident.  Back off the stool and back to the chips in the crock. Back and forth. I had seen this same movement of step up step down in videos of people trying to lose weight but had no idea you had to do this to make pickles.

Ok, we are now ready to put the clean jars on the counter and pack the slices in them. Did that. Got the sugary, spicy mixture in each jar and then sealed them and put them into their hot bath.

Back out, drained and ready to sit and listen to the jars seal. I was so excited.

The jars sealed and I was the proud owner of 12 pint jars of sweet/spicy pickles. I am so happy. And I am worn out.

So my lesson learned and the cost of the lesson was:

Cucumbers of almost any size can be pickled. They DO NOT have to have a sign on them that say Pickling cucumbers.  :Price paid: $6.43 for 2 gallons of gas spent trying to find the perfect cucumbers with a sign that says PICKLING cukes.HOT WATER TO WASH EVERY SINGLE CUCUMBER AND SLICES 3 times each: $26.36 according to the Water Works and Sewer Board Bill I got for last month. JARS  LIDS   RINGS   $30       Trips to find Jars, lids, rings, lime,  $5.23 in gas.SUGAR  $7  Vinegar $6   Spices $4     

Now, looks to me like they could have made a sash that said Most Expensive Pickles. Then I would have won. So guess next year I just need to start earlier and them others better be worried cause this next year, I am taking home the ribbon for something............just see.

I am a firm believer that God puts you where He wants you to be at the time He wants you to be there.  With that said, I could never have been a Pioneer Woman.

Nope, couldnt have done it.

I get tired just getting the clothes out of the washer and putting them in the dryer. The idea of having to carry the clothes to the river or stream and then beat them with a rock, I cant even get the hamper downstairs without wheezing and having to get something to eat or drink on the way back.   Then it requires  sitting in the recliner and watching TV just to rest up for the next load. And its just the two of us!!

I wouldnt have made it on a farm either. I love the animals too much. I would have named all the chickens and cows and whatever else there was and couldnt imagine and dont want to now, the way we would get food on the table.

So thats out.   Just to get a Peanut Butter and Cracker with a Coke or Pepsi would have been out the question too. No stores, not much food and there wasnt a whole lot of gas or fuel around so walking would have to be the answer.

Well thats out , and there was no Walmart or Winn Dixie.  So couldnt just run to the store and get whatever.

Feeding the animals is a chore now and I just have the 3 dogs and 3 cats. Well and a husband but he isnt an animal.  Not always anyway, but if there is just one piece of chocolate left in the house, you better get out of the way. Reminds me of those old Mutual of Omaha shows where Jim was in the woods with the moma bear protecting her young and how she reacted, well, imagine a 50 year old man hunting a Snickers or Reese Cup in the middle of the night......not a pretty sight. Especially if there isnt one.

I thought I had it rough just trying to get the outfit ready for him to go to work and a lunch packed and gas in the car for him to go to and from work.  Man, I just wouldnt have made it in the earlier days.

I saw OLD photos this weekend at a local festival we had in Weaver. There was one that struck me and it was a store back in the early 1900s and it was stocked full of fruits and vegetables. The photo was of course in black and white and even then it shows so much detail. I dont know if its my habit of just loving food or what the attraction was but that was my favorite photo of all the ones I displayed on Saturday.  

In those days they didnt worry about feeding the dogs a certain brand of food or having one for overweight dogs or ones that had skin allergies and so on. There was no such thing as cat food back then, or at least it wasnt advertised in the photo, the cats lived outside and ate rats and whatever.

So I took a poll and the votes here in this house from the cats, dogs and myself are that we are where we are supposed to be. And we are doing what we are supposed to do, keeping the man of the house full, pretty well happy with life and gas in the car.

No, I would not have made a good Pioneer Woman. So when I complain now because the dryer door wont shut; the hot water heater is leaking; there is a hole in the siding; the lightbulbs are burnt out and I cant reach them, I just take a breath, sit back down in that recliner and think to myself,

Now where is that last piece of Reese Cups hidden?

I am so excited! I have been telling you about the Weaver Station Heritage Day Celebration for a while now, and we are almost there!!! Its going to be great. It has been so long in the planning stages that now we are almost to Celebration Day and its as exciting to me as if it were a county fair or something. There is going to be a cornbread tasting contest; prettiest pickling contest; arts, crafts; prizes; games for kids; pinto beans to eat with the cornbread; demonstrations from Civil War folks and Knights in Armour will be there. The Calhoun County Sheriffs Department is going to show up in one of those BIG vehicles they have and there is just all sorts of live music that's going to be played during the course of the day. The Boy Scouts are going to be there and people that have all sorts of Indian artifacts and dances and just a little of anything dealing with the Indians that once lived here will be evidenced.  I am just like a child when it comes to this sort of stuff.....old cars, antique tractors, who knows what all will be there. And the most exciting part to me is that I was not only involved, I got asked to be the GREETER at the gates. Do you know what that means?  I will get to see everybody that comes and get to hand them brochures and information and booklets and well I guess you will just have to come and see me and I will show you what all I have for you.

It is going to be so good......so, are you going to the park on Sept 24th? If so, I will see you there.....and tell me you read it in the blog......

Thanks and I will see you on the 24th!!!