The Aforementioned Love Song to Cake
Posted in Uncategorized on 10/28/2010 08:26 pm by jessI don’t know if anybody has ever read the little subtitle of my blog, up there in –hm, is it the right-hand corner? I’m in a different window as I write this and I can’t see the blog, so maybe it is I who should be subtly chastised by implication for not reading my blog descriptor. In any case, it says this:
Thoughts about reading
Thoughts about writing
Sometimes a love song to pickles or cake
I don’t know why I came up with it; I guess I thought I had to have some purpose or other to this frightful mayhem and madness that is called blogging. In any case, I have to be honest and admit that while I do talk about reading and writing, love songs to cake have been infrequent, and those to pickles have been virtually nonexistent.
I would hereby like to apologize to pickles and offer some remedy. Pickles have been very important to me in my writing life. Around 11 in the morning, if I’m writing all day, I start to get yens for lunch but don’t want to ruin my appetite, and these salty, crunchy snacks are both low-fat and filling. I used to go for Vlasic Baby Dills, Spiciness #2, but several years ago, The Wife brought sour pickles into my life, and I haven’t had much truck with Baby Dills since. Thank you, wife, and thank you, sour pi–okay, waaait a minute.
The real purpose of this entry WAS to bring a recent bout with cake into the forefront. However, when I went to the fridge to confirm the brand of pickles so I could find the appropriate image, I learned that what The Wife introduced was Kosher Dills. But they are different Kosher Dills! They are pale and sour, rather than urine-colored and vinegar-y. What is this pickle mix-up? Are there any pickleologists in the mix? Somebody, please explain!
I’ll just add quickly here that as a compensation for having waited an hour at the doctor’s office yesterday, I stopped on the way home and bought myself a lemon tart at a place I always pass but never patronize. So thank you, Cake Flour, for yesterday morning’s deliciousness. See the picture; hear my love song.
Seriously, please solve the mystery of the pickles!
10/28/2010 at 8:45 pm
Though pickles aren’t my forte, Pantry Girl to the rescue (maybe):
Real pickles (probably the kosher dills) are brined and cured over a long process. Weeks of being submerged in a (kosher) salt brine, strained, rinsed, more brine, more straining, more rinsing, etc. It’s a lengthy process. Sour.
Quick(-er) pickles (like regular old dills, as well as bread and butter or sweet pickles) are salted, iced, and drained, then plunged into a vinegar, sugar, and salt concoction, with spices added after (garlic, dill, red pepper flakes, whatevah). Vinegar-y. Voila.
Some of the color and texture also has to do with the processing, cooking, etc.
I tried pickles this year for the first time. The dills aren’t dilly enough. Oh well. There’s always next year…
10/28/2010 at 8:51 pm
So Vlasic is kind of faking us out by claiming to have kosher dills, but really having quicker pickles? Kosher is Kool? Ay, that way goes the game…