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Thanks to Emily for inviting me to the Pickling Party and to Shauna aka The Gluten Free Girl and The Chef for organizing this virtual party which has garnered over 300 individuals near and far who accepted the invitation to pickle and share! I was so thrilled to see this event in my Facebook inbox because I love to eat all things pickled especially if it’s crunchy, sour, garlicky and spicy!

Pickling is a whole new territory for me. I’ve never “preserved in brine” and I’m just more accustomed to preserving sweet and savory jams made with berries and fruit. You can say, that I’m a “jam girl” and a “brine” virgin.


New to the pickling scene, I decided to keep it simple by pickling green beans. I followed a “Basic, All-Purpose Brine for Pickling” from Homemade Living: Canning & Preserving with Ashley English (a perfect beginners book for people like me). I love this book because it’s not intimidating and easy to follow.

What’s great about this basic brine recipe is that it only requires the “three-steps” and is adaptable for any type of summer vegetable and the there’s a simple simple formula: “three parts vinegar to one part water; the amount of sugar and salt can vary according to taste.”

Ok, how simple is that?!

And, she openly encourages you to “adjust or change seasonings according to your taste….”

With the given formula (I heart numbers) and ability to make my own seasoning – I jumped on the opportunity to experiment with a spice combination that consists of the following for each jar: slice of organic lemon, 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns, a clove garlic, 2 bay leaves and a couple dashes of dried chili flakes.

I followed the directions and did the snipping, blanching, sterilizing the jars, dealt with hot jars, made the brine, processed the jars, made my labels and stored in the pantry (of course, there’s more in between but that’s just sound bite)! Sounds like a lot but once you’ve done it once, you’re golden.

There you go! I am no longer a “pickling” virgin.

I have to wait a month to try my homemade pickled green beans but from the looks of it and the given “formula” I think they will be quite tasty especially as a garnish in my not too distant homemade bloody Mary that J and I love making and drinking for brunch.

This virtual party has given me the needed confidence to experiment with pickling and has wet my appetite to pickle some more. Next time, I’m going to try carrots and again, use this crazy simple formula!

Happy Summer Pickling!

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