Friday, August 7, 2015

Extra Green Beans

Some friends asked us to tend their garden, and we got more green beans than we could eat.  I blanched them and the children put them through the bean frencher (with complaining, until they figured out their rhythm).



Still had more beans, because now our little backyard patch began producing.  I wanted to make some dill pickles, but after buying a few cukes, I thought I should just use what I already have and make dilly beans.  I had never pickled green beans before and I found it pretty annoying to try to stuff jars with wavy beans.  Photos of dilly beans always show slender, straight beans.


I had planted just a few herbs this year, and was pleased to match up my heads of dill with some cukes to make dill pickles.  They make such an attractive jar, I think!


I also made some batches of pizza sauce to use up the overflow of tomatoes from their garden, plus a few seconds that I picked up at market. I use this pizza sauce wherever spaghetti sauce is called for.  It has wonderful flavor and is quite easy.


The side of our house functions like a messy garage sometimes.  It's more cleaned up (temporarily, until the next project).  We were finishing some things in the third-floor apartment before new tenants moved in.  I seized the camera and we took a quick family photo, probably the first with Phoebe.

9 comments:

Tammy said...

I love dilly beans! We grow wax beans, and I think those are easier to get in the jars because they seem to grow straighter than the green beans. I recently tried out a different bean pickle, and my beans were all varying lengths (and curvy) so I decided to go the easy way and cut them in half and pack them in without worrying about presentation. I envision using them in salads rather than on a pickle tray.

Alica said...

How in the world do you get it all done?! With a newborn in tow? :) I think too, that the fresh dill in the jar of cukes looks attractive. Such a satisfying feeling to fill up those canning shelves.

Margo said...

Alica, we stay home a lot :) And my big kids are fabulous help with the baby if she wakes up mid-canning-project.

BLD in MT said...

You guys are so great! I don't care for dilly beans as much as pickles, but its probably just because they're not what I grew up on! Not much canning going on yet for us, but soon enough!

Becky said...

I pickle cases of green beans every year - my husband loves them - but I've never made dilly beans. The recipe he prefers uses basil and garlic. I chop the ends of my beans so they fit uniformly in the jars. I don't usually use wide mouth jars, but I find I sort of like them better for pickling green beans, as they are easier to pack.

I've never got a batch of pickled dill cucumbers to stay crisp though - do you have a secret for that?

Cute family photo!

Margo said...

Becky, I'd be interested in your pickled bean recipe with the basil. That sounds good!

To keep cucumber dills crisp, I make sure to trim off both ends of the cucumber. When I can get them, I also include a grape leaf in each jar because it has tannic acid that supposedly keeps pickles crisp. Some jars still seem to stay crisper than others.

jenny_o said...

You've been busy! *understatement* :)

AmyK said...

I love Phoebe's inquisitive look!

Sarah Barry said...

Beautiful jars, and I bet they are delicious.

Cute family pic.