Available (and you know you want it) at Market

Last Fourth of July my friend The Swarthy Menace (look at that chest ladies!) was in town and he invited me to a barbecue in Ditmas Park. When The Swarthy Menace invites you somewhere, you just go, but I was already "Ditmas curious" and the idea of grilling out in a yard, with grass, was heavenly to a homesick Southerner. I didn't want to show up empty handed, so I grabbed a jar of McClure's Hot and Spicy spears and hit the door. When I got there The Menace introduced me to the host, Tim, and a yard full of lovely people and while they helped themselves to the pickles I brought, I helped myself to the first of many Budweiser Tallboys...Happy Birthday America...

...I slept on the couch that night. Wait, no I didn't, I slept on the cushions from the couch on the floor. But who cares. Playing croquet for 4 hours (that was just ONE game) and drinking all night with The Menace was worth it. The next day, Tim, our ever patient host, asked me more about the pickles I brought and where they came from, and where the hell I came from, and then eventually kindly called a car to shuttle my pounding head home. I bid farewell to The Swarthy Menace and left Ditmas Park determined to come again. Well, I moved here a few months ago but I've yet to make my way back to Tim's croquet course (I have seen The Swarthy Menace again-this time in swarthy New Orleans)but I did, just last week, receive an email from him. I was expecting an invoice to have those couch cushions cleaned, but instead, Tim wrote to let me know how excited he was to find McClure's Pickles in our neighborhood. What a pleasant surprise!

That's right McClure's Pickles are now available right here in Ditmas Park. Coincidence? Of course. But I'll still take credit for it anyway. Mimi's Hummus , on Cortelyou Road has recently expanded to have a small shop next door called Market. I stopped in last week to have a peek at the pickle selection. Not only do they carry McClure's but also a couple of varieties from Brooklyn Brine (check out their hot new blog). I also spotted some clear quart containers with a handwritten label saying "Mimi's Pickles" - house-made pickles for just 3 bucks!

So, Tim, I guess this means you don't have to invite me over again just to get more pickles...but you can if you want to! I might be better behaved without a swarthy influence, but I can't make any promises.

** And now the New York Times is, once again, finally caught up with Pickle Freak.

Three's a Charm

*Note: This event is just ONE DAY AWAY! Woo HOO!
**Note: All of these pics are from our Pickle Happy Hour back in January at Uncle Vanya's
***Note: My mom says this first picture looks like 4 green turds. Thanks Mom!

The third pickle party of this still brand new year is just days away and I'm here to lure you there. Here I go:

Pickles


Booze


Pickles and Booze


Need more?
Ok-The Pickle Club and some of New York's best pickle vendors and fans will gather on Thursday, February 25 in an effort to do OUR part for the aid of earthquake victims in Haiti. All you and I have to do is show up and eat pickles...we can have a nice cocktail and bid on items in a silent auction and eat pickles and have a nice cocktail. Did I mention there will be pickles and booze?

Seriously, please come out. Not only is it a good cause but it'll be a whole room full of amazing, cool people. Come alone and mingle, bring a date or bring your office after work. It's for a great cause and you know you want a pickle! I'll be there eating my weight in pickles (for a good cause!) from Brooklyn Brine, McClure's, Ricks Picks, Horman's Best, The Pickle Guys, and Katchkie Farms (Thunder Pickles!) on Thursday, February 25, from 6-10 at the GS Lounge@ Gas Light, 39 West 9th Avenue at 14th Street.

Is it Thursday, February 25th yet?

Preserving Haiti

The Pickle Club will host a wonderful night of drinks and pickles to benefit the charity Forgotten Children of Haiti on Thursday, February 25th from 6-10 PM.

Come out and join Jennifer from The Pickle Club, myself and all the New York Pickle Gang as we gather to raise funds for victims of the earthquake in Haiti. We know how to have a good time and we'll make sure you have one too.




All the info is in the video but if you have questions email me. If you can't make it please donate whatever you can to the charity of your choice.

Sriracha Inspiration

Back in October I was, once again, googling for spicy pickles when I killed two birds with one stone. I found a hilarious new blog AND these intriguing spicy pickles made with Sriracha Hot Sauce, or "Rooster Sauce" as I've always called it. "Mr Dave" of the Ridiculous Food Society of Upstate New York really caught my attention and he's continued to win my admiration with posts like: "Mr. Dave is No Longer a Bologna Virgin". But ANYWAY*, when I first discovered rooster sauce I went a little overboard and kind of put it in everything I ate. I added it to spaghetti, slathered it on pizza and pretty much used it as a ketchup substitute. And then I just walked away.

But after seeing this amazing recipe and following up on it a few weeks later when he declared the pickles were awesome I knew I had to revisit Sriracha.

But it looks like lots of people are already beating me to it. I saw on Facebook a couple of weeks ago that Rick of Rick's Picks "discovered a new use for Sriracha" so I KNOW he's a got a trick up his sleeve and then when my friend and fellow blogger down in Memphis posted this about Sriracha Carole H left a recipe in the comments section where she takes a jar of store bought pickles and adds Sriracha, sugar and onions to the jar.

I can't wait to try my own recipe the next time I pickle...what else has everyone out there been adding Sriracha too... *(besides bologna)?

PS-Here's a great article in The New York Times about the history of rooster sauce, written by a fellow Southerner,John T. Edge of Oxford MS nonetheless.