...My brain hurts. So the week long of below zero temperatures in Chicago have ultimately left us without running water! The landlord has been dragging his feet getting here, then decided it would be a great idea to turn on the forced air heater downstairs (which hasn't been used in over 3 years to my knowledge...as it's landlord storage in the first floor apartment.) So, not only was I sick in bed today, and we've got standing/rising water in the kitchen sink and no running h20, but also a yummy cloud of dust and smoke began to fill up our apartment. Luckily, I have my new handy dandy air purifier, which alerts me to the air quality in a given room. Well, the meter hit the furthest level of POOR today. Wow, and I thought it would take a diesel truck parked in the living room to make it that nasty. Nah, just years and years of asbestos and dust mites. Bryan remarked that, "I feel like I have cataracts," while he squinted at me from down the hall, through the mist. Yep, it's time to find a new apartmy. On a lighter note, the plumber is inspecting our damage right now and we'll soon have a prognosis.
As for the pickling, I've learned quite a bit with this first go-around. You always learn the most from the biggest kitchen disasters, right? Well, unless you like soggy pickles, I wouldn't suggest doing any of that blanching that the recipe mentioned. I picked someone's brain about picklin' at work, and his suggestion was to bring your vegetables to a boil in the pickling liquid...adding the longer-cooking times as needed. The cauliflower takes the longest. It's going to take some more experimenting to get the right texture and flavor. Also, don't make the mistake of using 'white distilled vinegar' for your pickles! Yech! If you wouldn't enjoy it in a salad dressing, or soaking up one of your favorite veggies,why use it! White wine vinegar is more expensive, sure. But, it is worlds better and has so much more depth of flavor.
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