[tosca100]

When our lovely neighbour kept sending us cucumbers in the summer I had problems knowing what to do with them. (We had tzatziki every day!) After asking and researching I peeled and cut into batons six of them and after salting them, pickled them with sweet vinegar with pickling spice, a sprig of fennel and a vine leaf (supposed to stop them going too limp) along with another jar of sliced done the same. Opened a jar of batons today and was pleasantly surprised. Apart from being hideously salty (must check next tome) they were actually really nice and not as flabby as I thought they would be. Will definitely do some more next year, but this lot are unfortunately on the compost heap, along with the sliced which were slimey. The chutney was revolting, mainly due to celery salt...yeuch!

So although it seems like a disaster, I like to think of it as a lesson learned. Luckily vinegar and sugar are cheap, and I needed a couple of jars for some more quince jelly, so all good.

[Trillium]

It's terrible that these things go to waste, but it's how we learn. One year I used cider vinegar on my pickles and they were horrid, all soft in the centre and yukky. Turns out cider vinegar isn't acidic enough for cukes so I'll never repeat that one again. When I switched to regular vinegar, they all turned out well.

At least you don't have extra help, like at minute 3 HERE