Homemade Living Series

Staci and I are sharing our ideas about
Homemade Living 
today in our ongoing Wednesday series.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's time I come clean.
For those of you who've been reading for a while,
you know that I believe in living a clean life.
I've gotta confess, I have a new addiction.


It's okra.
Yeah.
Okra.

Before you start making faces,
 let me explain.

It's all Ms. Carolyn's fault.

I'm a Yankee transplant and never in my life 
would I ever have imagined
that okra would be passing through these lips.
Okra?
You mean that stuff that is so slimy you can't eat it 
unless it's had the living daylights fried out of it?

That's the stuff.
Only this is not fried.
I don't do fried.
This is pickled.
For the life of me, I can't get through a day without it.
I've got it bad.
So I had to learn how to make it myself.
My suppliers are my friends Faye & Lynn.
They keep me in the stuff so that withdrawl is kept to a minimum.

Here's a modified recipe that their neighbor Ms. Carolyn shared with me.
The original (more conventional) is below the post.
Just be forewarned.
You may find yourself taking extreme measures to find your own stash.

This is about 1/2 pound of fresh okra grown by my friends Lynn and Faye.

It was gently washed.

1 1/2 cups of white distilled vinegar and 4 T water were added to a pot.

Along with 3 good-sized cloves of garlic,

2 tablespoons of pickling salt
(you can use kosher salt that is not iodized),

and 1/4 cup of sugar
(I used sucanat instead).
Bring ingredients to a simmer,
then turn off heat and let it cool down about 10 minutes.

While the mixture is cooling,
add your washed okra to a jar
(wide-mouthed jars are easier when retrieving your treats).

After the 10-minute cooling period, pour mixture into jar,
cloves and all.
Cover and shake a couple of times.
Let it come to room temperature before refrigerating.

It's best to wait 3-4 days before sampling.
All I can say is that I'll try.
I've been without it for only a couple of days
and I'm feeling it.
Nothing I try to eat in its place satisfies.

I never thought I'd say this,
but I guess I'll be growing okra next summer.




Cold Pack Okra
 1-2 jalepeno peppers, sliced (optional)
1/4 C white sugar
1 1/2 C distilled white vinegar
2 T kosher or pickling salt
1 1/2 t horseradish
3 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly cut
splash of water (about 4 T)

Peel garlic and smash to release oils.
Wash okra.
Wash and thinly slice peppers, discarding seeds and core.
Pack okra and peppers into jar lengthwise.
Add vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and water to pot and bring to a simmer,
and then immediately turn off heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
Pour over veggies in jar and add horseradish.
Tighten lid and give a few firm shakes.
Allow to reach room temperature before placing in fridge.
Give them 3-4 days of pickling before eating.
Enjoy!





Next week join our friends
Jackie
Mary
&
Tammy
for more Homemade Living perspectives!