Back in November I picked the rest of my tomatoes and attempted to pickle them. Turns out I kind of screwed it up. For anyone who decides to try pickling at home, don’t mess around with the ingredients. As I learned from some nice people at the GardenWeb forums, when you’re pickling, as a rule of thumb you should use at least one part vinegar to one part water. I used two parts water and one part vinegar because a recipe I found online told me to. I also added some onions and garlic and because the recipe said I could add whatever I wanted. As I’ve learned since then, it might not have been safe to do that. Oops. (Next time I’ll be using one of the National Center for Home Food Preservation’s approved recipes.)

Fearing I may have messed up my pickles beyond repair by altering the recipe, I put them in the fridge to be on the safe side. And there they sat. I’m not ashamed to admit it… I was afraid to eat them. But today, nearly a month later, I took the plunge.

The jar I opened had a nice tight seal on it—so tight I had to get Geoff’s help opening it. That’s a good sign. And the pickles weren’t bad. I ate five or six of them. A little soft, a little vinegary, but not gross. And four hours later, I haven’t dropped dead or doubled over with shooting abdominal pains, which I hope means they were safe to eat.

All in all, in spite of the mistakes, it was a decent experiment. Now I just have to eat my way through three pints of pickles before they do get gross…