Laugh it Off {Pickled Summer Squash}

Were the hell did June go?  We have been so busy it seems to have passed me by.  Weekends have been jam packed, our next free weekend is Labor Day.  Our plans always involve fun, but it still wears me down.  Busy weekends also mean less cooking and eating at home.  This makes it hard to keep up with the weekly CSA bag of vegetables from the farmer.  I have been trying a few new things to use all the food up before it spoils.

A few weeks ago I made pickled radishes, they turned out delicious.  They are perfect in a salad or to top a spicy taco.  Easy to make too.  With the few stalks of rhubarb I made a marmalade, which I then used to make a spicy sauce for pork.  Over the long holiday weekend I made some pickled summer squash.  Easy enough to make, you just have to factor in the time for soaking.  The batch I made filled one large mason jar perfectly.  What wasn’t so perfect was that when I was tightening the lid in preparation for the water bath, it slipped out of my hands.  The jar broke.  Oops!  Thank goodness it fell right in the small sink so the mess was relatively contained.  Not much to do but shrug and laugh it off.

Oh though I did take a few tastes before tossing it, doing my best to avoid glass shards.  It was tasty and likely would have been even better given a bit of time in the fridge.  Not as crisp as a typical pickle, though a great option for extending the life of summer squash.  I used cider vinegar which gave it a sweet and sour flavor.  This recipe is especially useful since I am not a huge fan of cooked summer squash.

Pickled Summer Squash

4 cups sliced squash sliced (about 2 medium)
2 med onions slice
1 ½ cup vinegar (cider vinegar is my preference)
1 ½ cup sugar
½ tsp mustard seed
½ tsp turmeric (optional)
½ tsp celery seed
¼ tsp black pepper

Soak squash and onions in ice water for 2 hours with 1/3 cup of salt.  Drain.
Combine vinegar thru black pepper in pot, boil until sugar dissolves.
Add vegetables, bring to a boil for 3-5 minutes.
Fill jar leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
Seal jars and process in water bath for 5 minutes.