Granny's Refrigerator "Pickles"

Growing up, my granny almost always had a gallon jar full of cucumbers and onion slices in vinegar water. When the jar contents got low, she simply added more cucs, but very rarely actually completely emptied the liquid and started over. 

These things never really even had a name, but we ate them with just about every meal, and there really wasn't a "recipe" for it either. I made some last summer, and it took me back to childhood, and yesterday when I picked 5 rather large cucumbers out of my garden, I immediately knew what I was going to do with them. Granny's recipe was simply water, white vinegar, table salt and black pepper, cucumbers, and onions. Today, I added a little more to it. 

Ingredients:

1 : 2 ratio of White vinegar to water. If you like a stronger vinegar flavor, add more vinegar. If you like a weaker taste, add more water. 

enough cucumbers to fill your jar. Use glass jar with a metal lid if possible. The vinegar soaks into the plastic lid.

onion (depends on your preference. I use one small-medium sized white one this time)

Seasonings to taste. Salt, Pepper, Dill, Garlic, Red Pepper, etc. 

Directions:

Peel and slice your cucumbers. Today, I used six medium sized cucumbers. You can start with one to see if you like the recipe, or a dozen. It really just depends on the size of your container. 

Slice your onion into rings. 

layer the cucumbers and onions in your container until you're either out of cucumbers or your jar is full. 

Add the seasonings. I added a couple of crushed clovers of garlic and some dill (left over from canning real pickles last week) to the layers and then added the sea salt, black and red peppers to the top layer of the cucumbers. 

Add the vinegar and water a little at a time. i.e. 1/2 cup of vinegar and a cup of water until the cucs are covered in liquid.

tighten the lid and gently swish the jar around.

Refrigerate. 

You can eat these the same day if you're impatient, but if you let them set at least a couple days, they'll be better. You can adjust your flavor after tasting them to better fit your tastes, and when you eat the last cucumbers, simply add more to the already prepared liquid.

I don't let them sit longer than about 6 weeks. the longer they soak in the vinegar, the soggier the cucumbers get, and I like them still a little crunchy. 

Enjoy ! and let me know what you think!

TTU Rag Wreath

It's that time of year... The time when we West Texans clear our Saturday schedules and get our guns up. Our Texas Tech guns up, that is.
So this year, to go along with football season, my front door is sporting a red & black rag wreath.
I love making wreaths like this. They're super cheap and they don't take much brain work. If you play it right, you'll spend less than $10 on the whole project and if you're lucky, you'll already have the solid fabrics in your scrap collection. After supper I can sit down on the couch with my cutting mat and a few yards of fabric, and the next night I can sit down with piles of fabric strips and a wreath form, and before I know it, I've got a fuzzy, cute, homemade, decoration!

To make these wreaths, I use:
a 12" "box style" wreath form (the metal ones with four bars)
1/4 yard of 6 different fabrics. (I use 3 solids and 3 patterns)

The instructions are simple:
 Cut the fabric into approximately 1" x 6" strips. It's really just a personal preference.

Working by section, half knot the strips to the wreath. I work from the inside out and the last few that I've made, I have removed the outside ring of the wreath and only done the inner and third rings. The first ones I did, I covered all 4 rings. I have made wreaths both ways, it's just another personal preference as to which style you like and how thick you want your final product to be.

The Double T is just a piece of cardboard covered in a football patterned fabric and tied to the wreath. I didn't want it to be permanent since right now the plan is to hang it for baseball season, too.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats

Peanut Butter Rice Krispies Treats

Ingredients
4 cups Rice Krispies
2 cups peanut butter
1 cup light Karo Syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1 bag Hershey's Kisses (I used the caramel ones)

Directions
First things first, peel approximately 48 Hershey Kisses, and set them aside. (You'll thank me for mentioning this later)
Bring Karo and Sugar to a boil, and remove from heat.
Quickly stir in peanut butter until smooth. Add Rice Krispies, and stir until equally combined.
Drop Rice Krispy Treats by the spoonful onto wax paper.
Immediately press a Kiss into the treats and let set, without disturbing the Kisses until cooled to room temperature**
Store in airtight container. Enjoy!

**Let's just be honest... I didn't let them cool off to "room temperature" Heck, I didn't even get half of the treats onto the wax paper!  We ate it warm and straight out of the pan.       ~Erin