You can now find a button on my page to follow me on Twitter. I hear that this bumps up the readership of many bloggers, and I would like to both expand my audience and find new blogs to follow. The Twitter account I use here is completely unrelated to my main Twitter account, which I hardly ever use anyway.

In other news, I’m back on a pickling spree – and was delighted yesterday when Dom returned from Asda with a red cabbage! This has been dry-brining since early yesterday evening and can be completed later this evening.

Last night I made Crunchy Courgette Pickle, which isn’t a preserve and is just a tasty way of pickling cougettes (or, if you’re not British, zucchini).

I plan to use this in stir-fries, pasta dishes and as a salad dressing. The sugar does crystallise again and so the jars will need a shake before use, but I’ve never known brown sugar to stay dissolved!

Here’s how I did it:

500g courgettes (zucchini)
3 shallots, finely chopped
2tbsp table salt

For the pickling liquid:

500ml cider vinegar
140g golden caster sugar
1tsp mustard powder
1tsp mustard seeds
Half a dried chilli, crumbled
1tsp ground turmeric

Method:

1: Thinly slice the courgettes, place in bowl with shallots and add the salt. Cover with ice-cold water, stir to dissolve the salt and cover and leave to brine for an hour.

2: After an hour, drain well in a colander, then wrap in a tea towel to absorb as much water as possible.

3: Place all pickling ingredients in a pan. Bring to simmer and bubble for three minutes, ensuring that the sugar is properly dissolved (it will crystallise again on chilling, but will be much finer). Leave to cool until warm but not hot. Add courgettes and shallots and stir.

4: Scoop mixture into 2x500ml or 4x250ml jars (sterilised in oven at 170C/gas mark 3 for at least 10 minutes). Seal and leave in fridge for a few days. If kept chilled, this will last for several months.

It smells wonderful. I’ll be making some more of my Confiturra tomorrow too.

I think that, as a disabled person who cannot work, it’s very important to find hobbies and learn new skills to keep yourself sane. I used to be so very active, so now that my mobility (and agility) is limited I have had to find challenging, but non-physical, occupations. Gardening is quite physical, I admit, but at least Dom helps me with the heavy stuff – and I adore pickling, preserving, playing one of my ukuleles and cross-stitching.

Speaking of cross-stitch, this project is coming along very nicely. I should take photographs and post them as I continue.