Thoughtful Thursday & Friday's Recipe

“So few people eat okra (more radishes are grown in this country) that it never even makes it onto the lists of Top 10 hated foods” ~ Julia Reed

I'll admit, I was not a huge fan of okra. It has the consistency of snot going down and it really doesn't have all that of an appealing taste. I had people tell me it was better fried, but it really didn't make the snotty insides go away enough for me, so I just tried to avoid it whenever possible...until I tried pickled okra. It gave it taste and somehow the slimy insides were not so slimy and it was edible. So, I thought I'd share the recipe that converted me to an okra eater.

OKRA PICKLES

Ingredients:

3 1/2 pounds small okra pods
3 cups water
3 cups vinegar
1/2 cup canning salt
2 tsp. dill seed
4 cloves garlic
2 small hot red peppers, cut in half

Trim stems of okra, being careful to to cut pods; set aside.
Combine water, vinegar, salt and dill seed; bring to a boil. Pack okra into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. put 1 garlic clove and one-half pepper in each jar. Ladle hot liquid over okra, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: about 4 pints.

Note: when cutting or seeding hot peppers, wear rubber gloves to prevent hands from being burned.