That's why cucumbers are often called "Nature's Self Cooling Tube Like Things". Consult your local library for more information on cucumbers and other vegetables that play calypso music when boiled.

Dude..I am overrun with cukers this year. Gonna have to make lots of pickles. And cucumber salad. Yum!

jrossi4r, that is my plan for tonight - canning zuke relish and bread and butter cuke pickles. We also are overrun, and when the tomatoes start to ripen I don't know if I'll ever get out of the kitchen!

BTW, I made this last week, and it was really really good!

Damn, tr33. That looks good, but it's got cilantro! I'm totally anti-cilantro. I'm trying to find a good recipe for spicy bread and butter pickles. They're the mister's favorite, but we can't find them in the store. If you come across one, let me know.

jrossi, check this, near the bottom of the page.

Watermelons, too - that's why they used to be considered such an amazing summer pleasure in the days before climate control. They were cold without needing ice.

Cucumbers on eyeballs are quite pleasing too. I think some use them for other pleasing activities, also.

Rockin', tr33! Do you think that recipe would work for fridge pickles? I just can't get over my fear of canning.

As long as they're eaten quickly, and stay in the fridge, I think you're safe!

Ooooh, but canning is so easy. Really, it's just boiling water, and then you can stock up on enough relishes and pickles to get you through the winter. We canned garden food for our wedding gifts at the reception table - that summer was my first time canning and I topped off at over 150 pints. If I can do it, you can do it too!

Bread and butter pickles make me think of my maternal grandmother, with her wavy red hair, sea-blue eyes, and tiny little freckles; I taste them and weep, for she was pure comfort to a child.

jrossi, don't be afraid of canning. Just use a modern recipe and stick to high-acid foods. Canning has the aura of danger about it because people used to use low-acid pressure preparations more often, and with not enough acid bacteria were able to survive and spread if there was any mistake in the sterilization and processing. But there is a lot of recent, usable information out there about how to can that is much safer. You can do anything vinegary or high-acid - ketchup, relish, pickles, tomatoes, salsa - very easily in just a large pot in a boiling-water bath without worrying about contamination.

The riskier stuff is canning fresh veggies like green beens, limas, asparagus - those you need to can under pressure, and if the processing is incomplete bacteria can multiply. But I just don't do those, or haven't yet (maybe one day when I need a project. My grandma managed it successfully and hopefully she'll sit on my shoulder and whisper heavenly instructions). With high acid canning you are as fine as you are when you buy salsa or pickles in the store.

Apparently, tony paco's hot bread and butter pickles and some clamato make you a mean bloody mary.

Oh, and jelly. You have to be careful with jelly because bacteria enjoy sugar.

There is plenty of canning info on the web: The USDA has a page, and every state's cooperative extension usually has a publication on home canning and sometimes even some experts who will come present. The USDA and Cooperative Extensions are good sources because they only publish vetted information supported by studies.

I'm just terrified that I'll get everything nice and sterilized, unthinkingly reach over to blow a wee one's nose or something then recontaminate everything. My powers of concentration are poor at best these days.

My cucumbers are in bloom and I'm really really hoping I get a bunch. SO YUMMY!

jrossi: the acid will kill the booger cooties. Just do it!

Cootie killer!
Food eater!