cucumbers

mmmmm...that was a new thing this week from our farm share. We got "slicers" this week. Those are what we typically think of as eating cucumbers. I like pickling cucumbers to eat too, but they weren't ready yet. I don't know that I plan on making many pickles this year. I made soooo many pickles last year and we still have quite a few. That way I can hopefully focus my energy somewhere else.

I took advantage of the cucumbers by making a big batch of my Grandma Joy's cucumbers and onions. It's one of those things that everyone has their own way of making. I like this version because the cukes and onions soak in salt water for 24 hours first. That really helps them to last a long time. My Grandma uses a lot of sugar in hers, but I don't add nearly that much. The bad part of that recipe is that it's 48 hours before we can eat them.

I made a batch of cucumber sunomo to eat in the meantime. It's the Japanese version of the recipe I guess. Here's my recipe for it.

Cucumber Sunomo

In a covered contained put
2 large cucumbers, sliced

Pour over the cucumbers
1/3 c rice wine vinegar
4 tsp sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
about an inch of shredded gingerroot

Chill for 1 hour to allow flavors to blend.

I use white sugar here because I want it to totally dissolve. More natural sugars would work too, I just use white here. And for my ginger, I buy a gingerroot, peel it, wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it. That's a trick from Rachel Ray. I like to do it that way because the ginger just kind of melts into whatever it's going into.