Polaroids and Refrigerator Pickles

I really don't do a whole lot of quilting over the summer, but when I saw the "Picture Perfect Polaroid Swap" that Debbie, at "A Quilter's Table" blog, recently started, I couldn't resist!  I love novelty fabric, have tons of scraps of it, and just love the cute Polaroid mini-blocks!  All I had to do was buy the white fabric (although I couldn't resist buying a few fat quarters too), and ended up with 50 (!) for the swap, and an additional 30 for me.  Yep, I think the heat has got to me, but they're SO incredibly cute!!

I'm a wee bit embarrassed to show you this picture.  You can see my scientist nature in the way I organized these.  I have always loved to line things up and sort and order them.  We used to joke in the medical lab that a little bit of OCD is a really good thing in the lab.  All jokes aside, yes, this runs in my family, and no it's really not a joking matter, but I've learned to embrace it, and have learned the warning signs that demand professional attention.  I'm lucky that I don't struggle with it, but I really do think that quilting attracts people with these tendencies... the precise measuring and cutting, the way we line up seams together, ordering blocks by color and shape... That's our coat closet and front door in the picture, so yes, you CAN quilt in a small house!!  I LOVE my folding rolling table!!

Anyway, if you want to join in on the fun, go check out this post (or click on the button on the sidebar) and start fussy cutting!!

Debbie also is hosting "Tuesday at the (picnic) Table".  Come over and check out the recipes at the linky party, and/or add your own!

Mine will probably be the easiest there, refrigerator pickles.  Nothing screams summer to me like these sour goodies!!  They're great when you have lots of garden cucumbers (which is not our case - yet).

My mom taught me to make these, and she still makes them, and we all love them!  She sometimes would use a fork to score lines down the cucumber before cutting them to make them look nice.

Then slice and cover and mix with salt for a few hours to draw out some of the cucumber's water.

After a few hours, drain off the excess water and rinse the salt off the cucumbers, then cover them with vinegar and any spices you want, then park them in the refrigerator overnight.  I like to use apple cider vinegar, but Japanese rice vinegar is really good for a sweeter pickle.  These are great with sweet onions (which I don't have right now), or other veggies too.  I love Penzey's Spices (mail-order for me), and love using their "Fox point seasoning", a mixture of dried onion and garlic.  I have no idea how long they keep, because at our house they rarely last a day or 2!!!  YUM!