Pickled Pink.

Location: Brooklyn.
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 196%
Wind: 7mph
Number of pants I've hacked into shorts: 5
Number of times I've had icecream as a meal this week: also 5...

It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the season they once entitled summer and unless I'm in a well-ventilated,  air-conditioned ice box, I will not be attempting to scoff a hot meal anytime soon. Its so gosh darn hot up in here. That, combined with the fact that I'm an absolute sucker for all things picnic related was the inspiration for this post.  I also really enjoy life-lessons so we're gonna delve into some right here, right now. Ready?

Life lesson 1:

Ugly Apples Taste Better.
Here's the instagram post which got double likes thus proving said therom.

Life lesson 2:

If you go straight from your bar at 5am to queue for tickets to Shakespeare in the Park and don't sleep all day, you WILL fall into a deep slumber in Act II, much to the disgust of all theatre buffs attending. Whatevz. Great experience nonetheless.  Magical. Outdoors. Fireflies. Drifting in and out of dreams
.

Life lesson 3:
Donuts have magical qualities that can cure the darkest of days, soothe the most broken of souls and ease the most painful of sorrows.  I'm totally fine, you guys. I just ate a life altering donut and thought I should share how delightful it was. Guess I could've done it in a less depressing way? Peter Pan- go there if you can. Myself and my pals, Holly and Ben go there to eat donuts and talk about life.
Another shameless Instagram plug

Life lesson 4:
You're officially a grown up when you've honed your egg skills, right? Well, I can now reveal, on record,   that I can boil an egg to complete perfection. Without fail. Every. Single. Time. No big deal. It's a fool proof technique. Also top secret. Come over, I'll show you. 

Life lesson 5:
Learning southern slang is hella fun and finer than a frog hair split four ways especially when the devils beatin' his wife. Bless your heart and order more grits.

Life lesson 6:
Yes.
Say yes to everything (in a safe environment).
Talk to complete strangers (in a safe environment).
'Keep asking questions, stay curious, stay hungry'.
Stay (w)reckless (in a safe environment).
I told you at the beginning, I'm a sucker for inspirational life lessons. You got yourself into this mess. You can't stop reading now just cause I'm being a sap. Embrace it, we're almost at the end.

Life lesson 7:
Ok, so here's the big bombshell. I need you to promise to stay friends with me after I've told you this. After years and years and YEARS of eating pickles, only now have I realized that they were, at one point in their illustrious career... cucumbers. I'm being 100% serious when I reveal this little nugget of naivety. I honestly just thought they were a vegetable unto themselves. Til one day, lo and behold, I was having a conversation with a friend and they mentioned something about cucumbers and pickles and the penny that had been weighing down my purse for all this time, dramatically (a little bit like this sentence) thudded to the floor, along with my jaw. I couldn't conceal my shock and astonishment. I had been found out. My cover was blown. What followed was a lengthy bombardment of questions, an inquisition into the dereliction of my education and an in depth lesson about pickling. I couldn't just let this crucial information wash over me so I tenaciously took up a mason jar (or six) and decided to revel in the wonders of fermentation. Below is the evidence of said foray. Get amongst it.

Ingredients:
6 cucumbers
A bunch of asparagus
1 Red Onion
1 Bunch of Rainbow Chard
1 bunch of dill
8 cloves of Garlic
Mustard seeds
Black Peppercorns

Brine:
3/4 cup of Champagne Vinegar  (ooooh so faaaancy)
2 cups of White Wine Vinegar
8 cups of water
3 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/2 cup of salt



Method:
Sterilize Mason Jars in hot water.
Bring the brine ingredients to boil, turn off and set aside.
Slice the cucumbers into spears.
Cut off the woody ends of the asparagus. Bring a half inch of water to boiling point. Turn off. Pop asparagus into the water. Switch back on and turn off when it reaches boiling again. Rinse under cold water.
Chop the leafy part of the Rainbow Chard off. (Don't throw away- they can be boiled as a delicious spinachy snack. How healthy!)
Slice the Red Onion into lengthy strips.
Place a clump of dill in the bottom of the mason jars that you will use for the cucumbers.
Put a couple of garlic cloves, some mustard and black peppercorn seeds into each jar.
Tightly pack the veggies into the jars.
Ladle the brine, covering the veggies.
Twist the tops onto the mason jars.
Place the jars in a pot of water and bring to just before boiling point to seal. This should take about 15 minutes.
Remove from the pot and leave for 2-3 hours to cool down.
Your pickled pals will be ready for consumption 24 hours later. The longer you leave 'em the picklier they'll get.

Green is the new black. 

Pink is the new black.

Yellow is the new black. 

Ooooh steamy

FRY 'EM!
.

Ingredients
Your pickled delights.
2 eggs
Enough breadcrumbs to coat your pickles.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Method:
Whisk the eggs in one bowl.
Have the breadcrumbs in another.
Heat some oil in a pan.
Dunk the pickles in the eggs, then in the breadcrumbs.
Fry in the oil til crispy!

For a slightly healthier option just fry in some oil without the egg and breadcrumbs.

And Now for a Very Important Announcement..

...it's Philippa's birthday!

Our little chicken is turning 24 and everyone knows what that means, right?
It means she was born 24 years ago.
To celebrate this important milestone, here's a list of things that make our Pips such an incredible person.

P is for Partners in Crime - no one is better company for illegal activities than Philippa.
H is for Hall and Oates - Maneater - she only comes out at night. Whatch out boys, she will chew you up.
I is for Idaho - one of the many states Philippa would like to visit one day.
L is for Ladies Loving Ladies - sometimes all you need is loving yourself.
I is for I don't know why we love her so much - I'm just kidding, she's fantastic and pretty and smart and a great friend.
P is for Partially Jewish - a secret only revealed now.
P is for Party animal - amongst other things.
A is for Ahhhhhhhhhh - words that come out of my mouth everytime we meet in person and hug.

M is for more - Pippa's favourite word and the cause of much trouble.
O is for Omnipresent - she may be in the other side of the ocean at the moment, but her presence is felt everywhere. Specially in our hearts.
O is for Omnipresent - seriously, she won't leave you alone.
R is for Red Wine - Philippa's weapon of choice
E is for Enigmatic -  cheesemonger by day, sexy vulture by night. When you think you've seen everything...think again.

And now, let's all raise our immaginary glasses and toast this very good lady.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PIPS!

Oh hello.

Well well well dear old friends!  How have you all been since we last met here many moons ago? We think its only right and proper that we give you an explanation for our EXTREME absence and severe lack of recipes on the blog. The past few months have been, for all three of us, a truly formative period that shall go down in the annals of time as a point in our lives which held much change, opportunity and travel. Without further ado, let us attempt to catch you up on the escapades of this travelling trio. All three of us moved house which is the main reason you haven't heard a peep from us. It wasn't planned that we would all move at the same time but what beautiful symmetry, eh?! Ale and Emma are both back in Dublin for now and Pip moved reaaallllllllllly far away from where she was (3 blocks down the road). Bold moves. We've been travelling, hiking, camping, having visitors, being visitors, earning money, spending money,  falling in love, falling out of love, makin' mates and eating ham. Basically, we've been caught up in the unpredictable lifestyle that is your 20s and yeah, WE'VE BEEN REALLY ENJOYING IT. Life, oh life, ooooooh life, oh life (to be sung obviously). We shall divulge more specific information in a timely and organised manner over the next few weeks. And by timely and organised, we mean, wild and unruly. 

We have also decided to throw our original template out the window and wander on with more sporadic posts whenever the mood takes our fancy. That's not to say we won't be posting as much (lol), we will just be looking further afield for inspiration and posting freely, without the restrictions of a monthly theme or challenge. The template boded well for us for the first few months but we found that it was unrealistic to try fit three different personalities into one set theme and make it in any way interesting for you lovely folk. So here we are, growing with our blog and expanding our horizons. Check back in in a couple of days for what promises to be the most incredible blog post ever (mmmmmm hyperbole).

Until then, just know we're alive.

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