>No Rest for the Pickled

>
Yes, I went on vacation and got out of the city for awhile, but listen to me…I never, EVER, go on vacation from my pickle devotion. Nope. Not ever. A friend and I, the lovely Rebecca (she makes me pickle martinis), flew down to North Carolina and just had our way with the state and some of South Carolina too. We frolicked in waterfalls and floated down a river, we ate boiled peanuts and drank Sun Drop and Cheerwine…and, yeah, I found some pickles. The very first night we got into Asheville, NC, I found a jar in the fridge labeled Smokey Mountain Dill Spears and got a good feeling for the rest of the week…

So, yeah, I’m always looking for pickles, but actually my main focus for this trip, besides drinking while in water (beer+water=vacation), was to find and eat as many boiled peanuts as possible. If you aren’t Southern, chances are you have no idea what I’m talking about and for that I’m sorry. Google “boiled peanuts” and then set out for parts below the Mason Dixon Line or click here. The next morning we checked out a farmer’s market (they are plentiful in Asheville) and officially began the search for peanuts and pickles. I scored a tube of homemade chapstick, but it wasn’t until the following day that we hit the jackpot.

In the South you’ll see roadside stands all along the highway selling peaches, corn, tomatoes, watermelons and if you’re lucky, boiled peanuts, and if you’re blessed by the sweet baby Jesus, you’ll also find rows and rows of pickles. I love stopping at these stands (and gas stations)and this one had more types of pickles than I have ever seen before. I chose 2 jars, (just 2), and hoped we’d continue to strike gold as we drove across the state.

The first jar I cracked open as we drove to the Green River to go tubin’ was the Carolina Hot & Crunchy Dills. They were “hot”, because they’d been sitting outside for days, maybe weeks, and they were not in any way crunchy. But guess what? I ate them anyway. They were kind of like Wickles, but not as good-because nothing comes close to Wickles! Then I cracked open the Carolina Spicy Garlic Dill Chips and ate almost the whole jar with my bare hands ( I really should travel with a pickle fork) while everyone else was chugging beer before getting to the river. The jar was chock full of cayenne pepper, so much so, the pickles had a crunch to them just from the crust of cayenne on them. I know they would have been a million times better if I had let them get cold first but I just couldn’t wait.

I’ve done a google search for both the “Carolina” pickles and the “Smokey Mountain” pickles that I found in the fridge and found neither available online. I suppose one just has to GO there to get them and I am SO GLAD I DID. If anyone out there has had these or knows if you can get them online, let us all know!

I took my Carolina pickle trio out onto the front porch for a photo shoot and this El Gato showed up and shooed away the squirrels and made himself comfortable.


He barely moved once he laid down and was still there the day we left…I can’t blame him, I wish I was still there.

18 thoughts on “>No Rest for the Pickled

  1. >Katy, it's not precisely what you mentioned, but we stopped by the Carolina Cider Company (roadside) when we were in SC back in May, and got some amazing things. I had never had fried peanuts (eat 'em shell'n all) before that day. Anyway, they offer several varieties of pickled products that you might want to try:

    http://www.carolinaciderco.com/

    Coming to NYC tomorrow. Will text to see if you're around!!!

  2. >I'm from NC and my dad is heading to Asheville this week. He is totally going to pick me up some of these pickles.
    Now for the exciting part (hopefully)
    Not sure if these are sold as far North as you are but we have a little town nearby called Mt. Olive. The entire town is Pickle happy http://www.mtolivepickles.com/
    At our state fair next month they have gigantic booths set up and give away pickleparaphernalia, gigantic pickles of doom, and even fry up some pickle chips. I'll take pics for you and if they give away any goodies I'll let you know.

    Jeannine

  3. >Hi Jeannine!
    Oh…lucky you…have your dad bring you lots of the Spicy Garlic ones! I got mine about 40 minutes out of Asheville near Hendersonville. Of course I know Mt. Olive pickles! I would love to go on a tour of the pickle plant there! Please do take pics and let us know all about the pickle goodies at the state fair…wish I could be there….ooooh all the fried foods!

  4. >I live in the Seattle area, and there is a small fruit stand that also sells boiled peanuts. They are great! If you are in the Seattle area and need a fix'n let me know and I can give you the info.

  5. This domain is fabulous. I have read every post almost so far. I cant believe how delicious your posts actually are. I would like to meet with you. Please contact me when you can. Much praise

  6. This website is fabulous. I have read every post almost so far. I cant believe how contextual your posts actually are. I would love to meet with you. Please skype me when you can. Much praise

  7. Hello. Very nice web site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your blog and take the feeds additionally…I’m glad to find numerous helpful information right here within the article. Thank you for sharing…

  8. Hey. Very cool site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I’ll bookmark your blog and take the feeds also…I’m happy to locate numerous useful information right here within the article. Thank you for sharing..

  9. Hey. Very cool web site!! Guy .. Excellent .. Superb .. I will bookmark your site and take the feeds also…I’m happy to find numerous useful information right here in the article. Thank you for sharing.

  10. Hello. Very nice website!! Man .. Beautiful .. Superb .. I will bookmark your site and take the feeds additionally…I’m happy to find numerous useful information right here within the post. Thank you for sharing…

  11. Hiya. Very nice website!! Guy .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your site and take the feeds additionally…I am glad to find so much useful info right here within the post. Thank you for sharing.

  12. Hi there. Very nice blog!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your web site and take the feeds additionally…I am happy to locate a lot of helpful information here within the article. Thanks for sharing…

  13. Whats up. Very cool site!! Guy .. Excellent .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your web site and take the feeds additionally…I’m satisfied to find a lot of helpful info here within the post. Thank you for sharing.

  14. I’d must check with you here. Which isn’t one thing I often do! I enjoy studying a put up that can make individuals think. Additionally, thanks for permitting me to comment!

  15. Hey. Very nice site!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your website and take the feeds additionally…I’m satisfied to find a lot of useful information here within the post. Thank you for sharing…

Add Comment Register



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>