Zucchini pickles

I am thankful for free food. I actively seek it out during the summer. But when I'm drowning in it, I have to remind myself out loud..."I am thankful for all of this free ______."

Two wonderful ladies from church kept bringing me zucchini this year. I made a couple batches of flavorful soup and some zucchini bread, but they just kept coming. And they got bigger. I stepped outside in the dark one morning to find two massive ones on my doorstep.

I've been wanting to can pickles for a few years but the thought intimidated me. Then I started searching the internet desperately for ways to preserve the zucchini, learned you could make dill pickles, and got the courage to tackle them. I did decide to take a shortcut and buy a mix rather than play around with fresh dill, brining for a few weeks, etc.

One zucchini was so big that I had to prop it on my hip while I peeled it over the trash can. It was too heavy to hold one-armed.

All of my jars sealed but Nathan made me open one a day later so he could sample them. Zucchini does not make crunchy pickles but the pickles taste normal. For some odd reason, he tasted one and said it would go well in soup. Soup? I've never heard of pickles in soup. He thought about it and came up with the idea of pickle and potato soup. Eww. We'll just put them in potato salad - close enough.

Next year I hope to try pickles without the mix! One more food challenge conquered!