08 March 2010

pickles?

I was rather hesitant about the carrot challenge from Tigress in a Jam/Pickle because I'm a little weirded out by carrot jams and jellies, and I've never liked a pickle in my life. However, I've only had pickled cukes (and I'm very particular about cukes anyway), so I decided I might as well pickle my carrots ('cause I do adore vinegar). I followed a very basic recipe and did a ridiculously small batch.

1/2 lb carrots, quartered and cut to fit in a 1/2 pint jar and blanched for 5 minutes
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
3/4 tablespoon salt
a few peppercorns, some nutmeg, a small pinch ground cloves

The carrots and spices got packed in the prepared jar. The liquids and salt was brought to a boil and poured over the carrots. I made sure there were no air bubbles, and I boiled the result for 10 minutes in the canning pot. I'm still waiting on the results...

Early April, after I opened the jar--
So...I don't like them. Cloves were a bad idea, but just in general I think I'll stay away from pickling anything. Maybe it's more of an acquired taste, anyway.