Doing the Can-Can

August is my birthday month. For the past six or seven years, I have celebrated my birthday month by spending most of it canning. This year, thankfully, August has been pretty warm, and it's been even warmer in our kitchen since I've been canning or baking almost every day. Between the 50# of apricots, the figs, the crab apples, the birthdays (not just mine), the weddings, and I can't even remember what else, it's been a busy month.

It might seem like a lot of work to spend all that time canning, especially when it's your birthday. But really, it's the best birthday gift I could ever give myself. Aside from letting this awesome cutie "help" out in the kitchen of course (she loves the jar lifter tool!).

It's the satisfaction of knowing that sometime, in the dead of winter, I can pull out a jar of something and savor a little bit of sunshine. It's also satisfying thinking about putting a smile on people's faces when I bring them a little jar of said sunshine as a treat, maybe just when they are getting sick of potatoes and squash.

My favorite part of canning is the snap of a jar sealing. It signifies all of that satisfaction like nothing else in the world. 

Some of the things I've been canning are recipes easily found, and some are recipes I've altered. I have to say that of the ones I've done so far this season, the one I am most excited about is probably the fennel bulb with orange. It's only a refrigerator pickle, so there wasn't any processing necessary. That's why it's the perfect recipe to share with people who might be afraid to pickle...

But you know, you really shouldn't be. It's very simple once you get the basics of canning and pickling down. You have to have sterile jars and vinegar with 5% acidity. You want unblemished produce and hot brine. Those things are all pretty easy to come by, and so are easy recipes. This is one of them, and you won't be disappointed. It doesn't produce the satisfying snap of a jar sealing, but if you've been thinking about trying out pickling and looking for a good place to start (and love fennel as much as I do) then this might just be the gateway pickle you've been looking for.

Hang on a second. 

Sorry, I just had to go eat some straight from the jar and do a little happy pickle dance.

Fennel Pickled with Orange
adapted from The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich (thanks Rose!)

makes 2 pints

1 1/2 lb fennel bulbs, sliced in chunks about 1/4" thick
2 tsp pickling salt
zest of one orange
3/4 cup white wine vinegar
Juice of the orange, plus water to make 3/4 cup
2 Tbsp sugar
8 whole peppercorns, cracked with a knifeblade


Slice up your fennel. This is part of where I altered the original recipe, which called for slicing them very thin. I thought it would be nice to have a chunkier piece, but you could do it either way really. Next, toss the fennel with the salt in a large, nonreactive bowl and leave to sit at room temp for 1 hour.


While the fennel is sitting, sterilize 2 clean pint jars in a 250ºF oven for 20 minutes, or you can do this in a boiling water bath. The jars don't need to stay warm once they are sterile, but do leave them undisturbed while they are waiting to be packed. Even though this pickle won't be getting processed (essentially pasteurized) you don't want anything gross in there so that they can keep for longer in the fridge. (Theoretically--they probably won't stick around that long anyway.)


Drain the fennel, discarding the brine. Do not rinse. Toss with the orange zest and pack it all into the jars, adding four crushed peppercorns to each jar.  


Heat the liquids, along with the sugar, in a small pan to boiling, making sure that all the sugar has dissolved. Using a funnel, pour the liquid over the fennel. Put the clean cap on the jar (doesn't need to be two piece or even an unused lid, since you're not processing.) Cool to room temp before refrigerating. Let it sit for at least 48 hours before eating. 


If you can stand it.