It's my first official day as a vegan!!! Yay go me!!! Ok to lay all my cards on the table here, although it's my first OFFICIAL day, I've often eaten vegan, and often cook vegan. My 22 year old daughter has been vegan for about 7 years now. So I do have quite a bit of knowledge on the subject under my belt. I also follow many vegan bloggers. I just haven't always eaten the way I intellectually know I should. We understand each other? Okay then, moving on. I've already had a pretty busy day. I went out to my vegetable garden and picked a bucket full of cucumbers, both the eating kind and the pickling kind. The eating kind I quickly divided up to give  most away, I'm currently up to my eyeballs in cucumbers and cannot possibly eat all of them. The pickling kind I made into Spicy Garlic Pickles (my fave). I got 10 jars out of it. Add that to the 12 jars of Bread and Butter Squash Pickles I did last week. Yep, it's canning season around here.

 Spicy Garlic Pickles

Bread and Butter Squash Pickles

"Around Here" by the way, happens to be Sneads, Florida. Never heard of it? Not many have. When most people think Florida, they think, Miami, Tampa, Orlando....yeah, it's none of those, not even close. Sneads is in the panhandle of Florida, very close to the Alabama and Georgia lines. That makes us very very influenced by the south. Very rural, quite "redneck", very very southern. I'm originally from Rhode Island but moved here 16 years ago. I really love it most of the time. Really the only time I don't is when I'm searching for vegan/vegetarian friendly food. It can be a bit difficult. Another obstacle to my vegan path, but one that can definitely be overcome. I just drive 50 miles to Tallahassee. I also keep a vegetable garden almost year round, (definitely a perk to living here), and don't rely on processed food, not even the vegan kind. I figure if I'm making this journey towards health it really defeats the purpose to buy processed vegan food. So I've been stocking up on recipes and tweaking them to my tastes and I try to make batches of things and keep them in the freezer for those busy days, which can be quite alot of the time. I keep my grandchildren (ages 6 and 2) every day during the week,  and with school, T-Ball and all the other various things, the days can be hectic. Well, that's about it, time to go pick up my grandson from school. 

I'm including the recipes for the Spicy Garlic Pickles below, I hope you enjoy them.  

Spicy Garlic Pickles

*makes 10 pint jars

6 cups water

6 cups white vinegar or apple cider vinegar

6 tablespoons of pickling salt

2-3 cloves garlic per jar

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes per jar

18 pickling cucumbers

1.Sterilize jars and linds in boiling water.

2.Prepare Water Canning Pot.

3.In a large saucepan bring the water, vinegar and salt to a boil.

4. Slice cucumbers into 1/4 inch rounds.

5. Place 2-3 cloves garlic (the amount depends on how much you like garlic and the size of the cloves), the cucumber slices and the pepper flakes into the jars. Ladle the hot vinegar mixture over the cucumbers until they are covered by the liquid and put lids on and bands. 

6. Place jars into the canner and bring back to a boil, after the water is boiling, allow to boil for 5 minutes ( some people feel it is necessary to boil for 10 minutes but I always do 5 and never have a problem) boiling for 5 ensures the pickles stay crisp. 

7. Remove from canner and allow to cool for 24 hours before labeling and storing. Will keep 12 months.