First Cukes of Summer

It's the fourth week of June and we just picked our first cucumbers.  Instead of the larger salad variety, this year we decided to plant old-fashioned pickling cucumbers.  In my opinion, pickling cucumbers are much more flavorful.  

My late father-in-law hated cucumbers.  He said even pigs won't eat them.  I think I'll research his assertion; I seriously doubt it's validity.  I'm pretty sure pigs will eat anything!  

My husband eats cucumbers, but hates pickles.  I, on the other hand, love cucumbers, dill pickles, sweet pickles, and spicy pickles.   Once when I was little, I ate an entire jar of my aunt's homemade bread and butter pickles with onion rings at one sitting.  She was amazed...and I'm sure, a bit flattered that I thought so highly of her canning abilities.  My mother, however, was probably more than a little embarrassed. 

As a young woman, working in downtown Charlotte, my co-workers and I often had lunch at Arthur's, located in Ivey's department store.  Arthur's served deli-style food, and it's probably where I ate my first-ever hoagie.  My mama cooked "southern"; in other words...meat, potatoes, beans.  But I adapted quickly to new food choices, because I LOVED those huge dill pickle halves which sold for 25 cents.  Delicious! 

As my palate matured, I developed a taste for the unique Polski Wyrob pickle...a spicier, hotter version of dill pickles.  My best friend and I could easily down an entire jar.   

One of my favorite old-time Andy Griffith Show episodes highlights Aunt Bee's ineptness at pickle making.  Ordinarily a great cook, she failed miserably at making pickles.  Although Barney and Andy didn't want to hurt her feelings, they also couldn't eat the "kerosene cucumbers".  They devised a plan to give away the homemade ones to unsuspecting motorists.  Their plan backfires when Aunt Bee notices the pickles are disappearing.  Assuming they love her pickles, she quickly makes another batch.  

Well, I may just have to try my hand at pickle-making this summer.  Maybe I'll find a recipe for bread and butter pickles with onion slices like my aunt used to make.  Hopefully, they won't taste like kerosene, because in this household, I'll be the only one eating them.

Oh, I just had a horrible memory...my daddy eating pickled pig's feet from a huge jar, poor little hooves pointing downward.  I guess I was wrong, pigs won't eat "anything"... and I, pickle lover that I am, won't either.  


Copyright 2013 Charlotte Laney