nuts for apples

apple nut cake by diane eilerman

ingredients:
3 eggs
1 3/4 c sugar
1 c oil
2 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
2 c chopped apples (~2 medium apples)
1 c chopped nuts

directions:

1. mix first 7 ingredients well.
2. add apples and nuts.
3. pour into a greased pan.
4. bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

pickle me this

i finally finished the last pickle in a 80 fl. oz. container that’s been sitting in our fridge since after our honeymoon and was about to pour the brine out when i thought, “what am i doing?! i’m chinese and should not be wasting this tasty pickle juice. i could probably use this to pickle other vegetables.” so of course, i googled it and i was right.

there were lots of suggestions; the main ones that i thought were feasible and that i would enjoy eating were obviously cucumbers and surprisingly carrots. (to find out what other creative suggestions are out there, google it yourself =)

i then bought and partially peeled and sliced 4 cucumbers into long sticks and cubed some carrots (which i should’ve cut the same way i did with the cucumbers… i wasn’t thinking, i guess) and shoved them into the plastic container.

i waited two weeks for them to soak up those wonderfully sour pickle juices which was excruciating because just like anyone else, i don’t like waiting and for two weeks for that matter. i finally got to try them a couple of days ago and was quite satisfied that the cucumbers tasted great. i couldn’t taste any brine in the carrots, but i could taste it on the carrots. the carrot cubes were too thick to soak anything up.

notes to self: cut carrots into long sticks next time. and peel the cucumbers a little more to reveal more cucumber flesh, so they’ll be even more delicious 🙂