I'm a pickle addict...

And I had an amazon gift card just burning a hole in my pocket.  So instead of ordering books like I normally do, I ordered a case of pickles (in cans!) from Israel.  I balked at the price, but justified them because they were "free".  When a reviewer stated they were the best pickles they had ever tasted, I was sold.  Has anyone ever tried them?

Oh, I just love pickles! All kinds of pickles. Sadly, I have not tried these. Please let us know what you think. 

I am so excited.  I almost cancelled my order in favor of a Grow a Frog kit or a fondue pot (I'm all across the board with things I want), but those can wait 'til later. Especially since DH keeps saying "no" to the frog.  He will change his mind, of course, because what he really means is "yes".  

I will definitely let you know how the pickles are.  I have been buying the most delicious home canned pickles from a house not far from where I live, but I think they are almost sold out.  I need a new source...  

Ooo you will have to let us know if they are good. I'm a big fan of salty dill pickles! When I was a kid, lots of my friends' moms canned pickles, and I would always ask for some when I went to their houses to play. I got a few jars for my birthdays growing up, from the moms and also a neighbor I used to visit. 

I don't like any other kinds at all; I really dislike bread and butter and sweet pickles.   But salty dills… just one of the best things in the world. 

I hope you like them. I am not a huge pickle fan. I remember we made some every year when I was a kid that I did like. I remember they took 3 weeks to make and they were called Virginia Sweet Pickles.

I remember my aunt made her own pickles, in a huge glass container. I swear she made hundreds of them! Every Summer she would give us a huge container of them. They were the best dill pickles. She would buy the kirby cucumbers  (pickling cucumbers) at the warehouse, so you knew they were fresh! 

I miss them.  You get spoiled once you have fresh made pickles. I remember we had to let them marinate for a while before we could have any.

I just came home from Trader Joes. They were sampling a new flavor of popcorn. You may like it. It is Pickle Flavored Popcorn.  

I did try it. A little too much for me. 

I don't remember the particulars of how the Virginia Sweet Pickles are made.  I remember mom used a large heavy container that was like pottery.  They soaked covered with a brine for a long time.  then they soaked with spices and sugar for a shorter time.  When they were finally finished they were canned.  I remember at some point alum was part of the process.

I make bread and butter pickles, cinnamon pickles (thank you, Lizzie!!), and lime pickles. And this year, I made a sweet zucchini relish that is decadent. I'd make dill pickles if I could grow cukes.  Next year, I should just buy a bushel of cukes and be done with it. That would give me enough for a couple different kinds of pickles. I really do love pickles.

Denice, my mother made a pickle that took about two weeks, I believe. They were soaked and soaked with the water changed daily. And then cooked with the spices, then soaked again. I have that recipe around here somewhere....if I can find it, I'll tell you what they were called. Although I think it was just something like 14-Day Pickles. That recipe used alum. And the lime pickles also used alum (I think). I know something did because I had to buy alum for some kind of pickle.

Bread & Butter pickles are my favorite! I wish I could make my own lol.  Maybe I'll try next year.

I like a good dill pickle as well... The only pickles I really don't like the pickles (they are too sour!) fast food places have.

Israel does a salt pickle and a vinegar pickle. Which one did you get?
My grandmother, God rest her soul, made THE most wonderful pickles I've ever tasted. Quite spoiled me for other picklepatents ermes when it was my turn to wash up and dad had gone to see his parents he'd bring back a large jar of pickled cucumbers. As I said, I'd be doing the washing up and suddenly I'd smell them. Oh my goodness. I'd search the kitchen till I found them.
I'm interested to know how the israeli pickles are in your opinion.

I made 19 jars of pickles this year.  And I just ate the last pickle from last year's.  This was my 2nd year making them.  Last years turned out SO good (thanks Pam) that I'm really hopeful these will be good too!  I did try 2 other types.  

My Grandparent's neighbor made the BEST pickles.  We always called them Mrs. Peter's Pickles.  I can't recall ever hearing her name. She passed away about 10 years ago now; but it's been a lot longer since I had one of her pickles.  She was a quiet lady but her husband and my Grandpa would chat.  They were a mild dill pickle; but she would pickle the whole entire cucumber.  Some would be FAT but man that was a treat!  

I may just buy a bushel of them next year instead of growing because I keep having issues with downy mildew getting my cukes by mid season.  But there is just something satisfying in growing them from seed and preserving them myself to enjoy later.  It's very satisfying! 

MoochNNoodles said:

 
I made 19 jars of pickles this year.  And I just ate the last pickle from last year's.  This was my 2nd year making them.  Last years turned out SO good (thanks Pam) that I'm really hopeful these will be good too!  I did try 2 other types.  

My Grandparent's neighbor made the BEST pickles.  We always called them Mrs. Peter's Pickles.  I can't recall ever hearing her name. She passed away about 10 years ago now; but it's been a lot longer since I had one of her pickles.  She was a quiet lady but her husband and my Grandpa would chat.  They were a mild dill pickle; but she would pickle the whole entire cucumber.  Some would be FAT but man that was a treat!  

I may just buy a bushel of them next year instead of growing because I keep having issues with downy mildew getting my cukes by mid season.  But there is just something satisfying in growing them from seed and preserving them myself to enjoy later.  It's very satisfying! 

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I gave my BIL a jar of the Sweet Zucchini Relish I had made; in exchange, he gave me a jar of 7-Day Pickles that his mom made. They're really good. He grows the cucumbers and gives them to his mom. She makes the pickles and shares the bounty. It works out for them.

I agree with you about growing your own cukes. But I can't. I've tried now for the last couple of years and, no matter I do, I lose all the plants. Last year, I lost the plants within a month or so of planting them, some plants were dead in two weeks. There's something in our soil that is not conducive to growing cucumbers. I think we had two good years of cukes and that was with rotation planting. And that's been it. I've not been able to grow them since. Didn't even try them this year. I dearly love cucumbers.

And I loved going up to the garden to pick a couple tomatoes and a cucumber or so for a salad to go with dinner. Or cutting some mint for mint tea. Or going out to grab a couple ears of corn. There's something very satisfying about picking dinner from your garden. Rick's BIL went out last night and cut some parsley for our glazed carrots. It's such a neat thing to do.

Rick's BIL gave me an issue of Mother Earth News; there's an article in there about growing garlic that I want to read.

Winchester said:

 
I gave my BIL a jar of the Sweet Zucchini Relish I had made; in exchange, he gave me a jar of 7-Day Pickles that his mom made. They're really good. He grows the cucumbers and gives them to his mom. She makes the pickles and shares the bounty. It works out for them.

I agree with you about growing your own cukes. But I can't. I've tried now for the last couple of years and, no matter I do, I lose all the plants. Last year, I lost the plants within a month or so of planting them, some plants were dead in two weeks. There's something in our soil that is not conducive to growing cucumbers. I think we had two good years of cukes and that was with rotation planting. And that's been it. I've not been able to grow them since. Didn't even try them this year. I dearly love cucumbers.

And I loved going up to the garden to pick a couple tomatoes and a cucumber or so for a salad to go with dinner. Or cutting some mint for mint tea. Or going out to grab a couple ears of corn. There's something very satisfying about picking dinner from your garden. Rick's BIL went out last night and cut some parsley for our glazed carrots. It's such a neat thing to do.

Rick's BIL gave me an issue of Mother Earth News; there's an article in there about growing garlic that I want to read.

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I used to grow cucumbers, tomatoes, basil, oregano, peppers along with flowers. I had 3 different varieties of cucmbers: regular, english, and pickling. On my tomatoes I had: cherry, plum, and big boy big tomatoes. There is nothing like home grown veggies. At one point I had 12 cucumber plants along with 12 tomato plants, and 4 pepper plants.  I tried lettuce, but that became very buggy. After several years, the garden became prone to: mildew on the cucumbers, the white flies on the tomatoes, and then tomato disease. It was just not worth growing them. I tried adding more soil, rotating the crops, not planting for a year, and still the issues persisted. I tried using the Safer products, and even a dawn soap/water mixture...nothing stopped the diseases. 

I had to regretfully give up the garden. But I am so spoiled with the taste of home grown tomatoes and cucumbers. There is nothing like them.

I have since moved and have a balcony. One year, when my dad was alive, I planted one pickling cuke, one regular cuke and one english cuke plant, using the balcony railing as a trellis. I also had 2 patio tomatoes plants, along with basil. I had my own garden out there. All the neighbors could not figure out what I was growing! I had a stash of veggies that year, and supplied them to all my neighbors here. Eventually I had the same issues with the plants. I had new tools, soil, pots, etc and still ending up with he same problems. 

That was the one and only year for my garden! It was too much work to water them. I had to use gallon water jugs, which I had to fill up in the kitchen sink....took so long to water them. 

The next few years I had tomato plants, just a couple. I live near the beach where it is too hot for them. and the fog comes in during the month of August. So the plants ended up with mildew and disease. The soil required a lot of water because of the constant sun. I had to give up veggie gardening. I still have basil. The plant is huge.

I found I have better luck with flowers on this balcony. Plus it is so hard to carry potting soil up here, pot on the Balcony and then store the extra soil. I make a mess when I plant. I suppose I could do it downstairs and then move the pot upstairs, but.....it is not easy. 

I live on the second floor, but it is really 3rd because ground level is not counted as a floor. 

I miss home grown veggies. The farm stands are so expensive. And to buy for one, gets to be expensive because I want everything!!!   and it goes to waste....

I grew up on a farm so it was possible even with a very large garden to move it every few years.  I remember my dad talking about something called blight that affected some things more than others, it affected strawberries and watermelon the worst.  There was nothing that could be done for it but to move to another piece of ground.  After a few years the garden could go back to a spot where it had been before.

The problem with pickles is there are so many varieties and so many brands, many of them "artisan" and they usually aren't very cheap and you just never know what you're getting.  It's aggravating to buy a six dollar jar of pickles that aren't very good.  Also, of all the pickles I've bought I just don't think I've ever had any I liked any better than regular Claussen dills so I just quit trying.

My mother makes these things called candied dills that are fantastic if you like sweet pickles.  I can get the recipe if anybody wants it but I know it's quite simple.  You just get the huge gallon jar of the not so great hamburger dill chips and maybe drain the liquid out?  Don't remember for sure, like I said I can get the recipe.  But in that gallon you add like a 5lb of sugar and more pickling spice and probably some liquid, maybe more vinegar I just don't remember.  Never made them, always just grabbed jars from my parents.

Anyway they end up being completely crunch and sweet and take on a different shade of green.  I love them on cheeseburgers.

We used to have a garden, but as everyone knows, it is a lot of work physically and takes a lot of time. Now we buy in a farm share in the summer and get fresh vegetables and eggs delivered to the door every week. It's all homegrown without any work. My husband and I have been trying to slow our lives down so starting up a garden right after moving was just not in the cards. We don't even have to water in the draught since most of the trees around the house are 150' ft high so their roots aren't looking for surface rain. Found a little store in the area that sells homemade pickles, too.   

Stewball said:

Israel does a salt pickle and a vinegar pickle. Which one did you get?
My grandmother, God rest her soul, made THE most wonderful pickles I've ever tasted. Quite spoiled me for other picklepatents ermes when it was my turn to wash up and dad had gone to see his parents he'd bring back a large jar of pickled cucumbers. As I said, I'd be doing the washing up and suddenly I'd smell them. Oh my goodness. I'd search the kitchen till I found them.
I'm interested to know how the israeli pickles are in your opinion.

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After some serious deliberation, I got the Beit Hashita Cucumbers in Brine.   I was so afraid that my "pickle source" would run out and I can't have that.  I am anxiously awaiting their arrival on August 27th. I did make homemade pickles from a kit I ordered on amazon.  They were fun and would be an interesting project for someone with kids.  They actually turned out as good as promised.  I have a recipe for "old lady pickles" that my friend gave me, but I have yet to try them.   They don't have to be refrigerated, just set aside in a closet for about 14 days.  @Winchester, I would love to try the lime pickles.

nurseangel said:

After some serious deliberation, I got the Beit Hashita Cucumbers in Brine.   I was so afraid that my "pickle source" would run out and I can't have that.  I am anxiously awaiting their arrival on August 27th. I did make homemade pickles from a kit I ordered on amazon.  They were fun and would be an interesting project for someone with kids.  They actually turned out as good as promised.  I have a recipe for "old lady pickles" that my friend gave me, but I have yet to try them.   They don't have to be refrigerated, just set aside in a closet for about 14 days.  @Winchester
, I would love to try the lime pickles.

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I hope you won't be disappointed.

Stewball said:

I hope you won't be disappointed.

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I hope not.  I've wanted to try the pickles in a can for some time now.  I thought I may as well do it, since my husband still isn't on board with the frog.  But he will be, eventually, I'm sure.

I'm not sure if this is the type, but I've heard a lot about this brand: