…And it’s on it’s way to ME. This is what happens when you have friends in the library world. This book showed up as a donation in their drop box. SCORE!
I’ll be sure and share some of the genius once I get my hands on it.
Monthly Archives: September 2012
1st Annual Pickle Palooza in NYC
On Sunday, September 30 be sure to check out the 1st Annual Pickle Palooza at Greenwich Village Country Club. Tickets are sort of high, $30, so there better be a palooza-load of pickles there for eating! According to this article from Gothamist, there will also be lots of PBR and pickle back shots, so it’s actually a good deal since you can barely get a single can of PBR in the city for less than $5.
Oh and my pals Brooklyn Brine and Horman’s Best will be there, so go and check them out and give them a big hug from ME! Pickles and Booze. Amen!
Pickle Palooza Poster!
Pickle Candy!
Sack full o’ pickle candy!
Ever since the 2nd grade, when our teacher announced we would exchange letters with pen pals in New Mexico, I have loved getting mail. I mean, I LOVE it…so getting pickle stuff in the mail on a pretty regular basis is probably my main reason for living, and of course, eating the stuff that comes in the mail…and blogging about it.
My most recent surprise pickle mail was this pretty little bag of pickle candies that are a direct result of the awesome job I have. I manage a co-working space in NOLA called Launch Pad, which means we provide professional work space for freelancers, startups, independent/young businesses etc. It’s a really fun mix of people, who are doing their own thing and following their passions. Last October we hosted a lovely writer from Brooklyn who was in NOLA for a month to soak up as much art, music, food and culture as she and her husband could while he also had his own show at a local art gallery. While she was working from Launch Pad that month we talked about blogging, Brooklyn and pickles and found it hilarious that she had once interviewed and written about my favorite pickling brothers, Bob & Joe McClure!
Colleen is one of those special people that sends handwritten thank you notes, that I try to be more like (and am failing, big time), but never would I have suspected she’d FIND and SEND me a bag of pickle shaped candies! Once I calmed down from the excitement, I had to find her on Facebook and ask her where in the F did she find these!?
Here: Sugar Shop-in Brooklyn (of course). You can’t order these online, but I have a hunch that if you called them up, they would pack up as many of these babies as you need and mail them to you too. The candy is NOT pickle flavored (sad face) but something more like green apple flavored and it’s somewhere between hard candy and gum…sort of like a hollow, pickle shaped, chewy sweettart (smiley face).
There ARE other pickle candies out there. I have a tin of Pickle Mints that I also received in the mail from my most favorite band of all time, The Wedding Present, and I know that there are pickle flavored gum-balls available (I’ve never had them but I can’t explain to you how excited pickle flavored gum gets me-no, I really can’t explain it)
Pickle GumBalls
AND I have come across a bucket of Haribo Gummy Pickles…if you know me well, you know that I have a very serious Haribo gummy addiction and if I find out you’re going to Europe I will INSIST that you bring me back Haribo gummies because the ones made over there are SO MUCH BETTER than the ones made here (typical). I’ve never ordered the Haribo Saure Gurken mainly because they aren’t pickle flavored…but hey, if you’re going to Europe and you see some….pick me up a bucket? Colleen-any plans to go to Europe soon?
Haribo Saure Gurken-I think they could do better…
Epic Pickles
Epic Trio-Garlic Dills, Spicy String Beans, Hot Dills
It’s been awhile since I received a hefty box of goods from the guys at Epic Pickles full of what you see above: their Garlic Dills, Hot Dills and Spicy String Beans, which means I don’t have any of them left, except for the one jar I decided to leave in the fridge where I work. This is only because my desk is in an open work area and I feel the need to shield my colleagues from the sight that would be, left to my own devices, me eating pickles ALL. THE. TIME.
So anyway, as I unpacked the box (at work) the first thing I exclaimed was “Oh, how handsome are these pickles!?” and then after ooohing and ahhhhing over them I realized that they really reminded me of one of my first and still VERY strong pickle crushes — McClure’s Pickles. Look at those labels. Everyone (that pays attention) knows that I have a crush almost as big on the McClure’s label as I do the pickles (and relish and bloody mary mix). I’ve urged them to have sheets, pillow cases and sleeping bags made with their label on them. How luxurious, and oh-so-seductive, would it be to sleep encased in McClure’s packaging? EXTREMELY. Do you wonder why I’m still single?
A side by side comparison shot taken in my fridge.
Ok, Ok, back to the pickles. So the labels are very similar but hold on Epic Pickles, I’m not THAT EASY! Just because you look like McClure’s doesn’t mean you can just jump in to my pickle sheets! I took home the Spicy Dills and the Spicy String Beans and slapped ‘em in the fridge for as long as I could stand it. I tried the string beans first, just so I could try something totally different since McClure’s has never made a pickled green bean…yet. I’m happy to report that the Epic Spicy String Beans are FANTASTIC-undoubtedly my favorite pickled green bean that I’ve ever had (my 2nd place winner would be Stuarts Cajun String Beans made locally). The flavor is very strong and spicy, ROBUST I think is the perfect word to use here but the best thing about these beans is how gigantic they are! Size does matter for the sometimes poor and skinny string bean.
The robust flavor of the string beans is reproduced in the Spicy Dills. My jar of pickle spears had a nice bedding of about 2 inches of spices and crushed red pepper which gave them a nice red tinge, always a good sign in my opinion. I have to say that there is really no comparison in the flavor of these pickles to McClure’s Pickles except that they are both of exceptional quality. McClure’s Pickles have a bright, tart, vinegary crunch to them and the heat is clean and pure while Epic Pickles have a more seasoned, spiced taste to them, with a heat that builds with every bite. Perhaps, of the 3 varieties that I tried, the Garlic Dills (which are actually my favorite) could be most closely associated with McClure’s but I’m confident that anyone could tell the difference between the two in a blind taste test, and love them both and I’d like to sign up for one of those just to prove it….
Mmmmms….Epic Garlic Dills
The guys in York, PA making Epic Pickles totally have my attention and I cannot wait to get my hands on more and see what other great Epic flavors they are cooking up. I like to think that the similarity of the labels was a cheap ploy just to get my attention, that totally worked, but I’m even more in love now that they’ve recently undergone a sexy new makeover. Welcome to my list of pickles to stalk Epic Pickles!
Yeah, That’s Good Lookin’