Making myself look stereotypical

I've been eating a lot of pickles lately, but it is not because I'm a crazy pregnant lady. No, I'm placing the blame squarely on the blogosphere for this one. All the fresh vegetables of spring seem to turn food bloggers minds (and stomachs) toward briney vegetables. It's either that or the fact that I've started reading the blogs of Deb and David Lebovitz, two seriously pickle-crazy people. In any case, I've been driving R crazy lately by making the house stink of vinegar, but the results have been seriously delicious.

I suppose I can foist some of the blame on Deb, seeing as two of the three recipes I've made have come from her blog. I've made pickled carrot sticks twice now, once with white wine vinegar and once with cider vinegar. I think I like them a little bit better with the white vinegar, but they're really tasty either way. Since you don't cook the carrots, they retain a nice crunch. (Actually, now that I think of it, none of the recipes call for cooking the vegetables, so they're all crunchy and delicious.) I picked up some peas while at the store yesterday so that I would be able to make picked sugar snap peas, and they certainly have not disappointed. As suggested, they're definitely ready to be eaten after only a day of soaking in brine.

I did get to take advantage of the whole "pregnant women eat crazy food" mythos when I brought a container of quick pickled radishes to work. While delicious, I didn't realized quite how pungent they were, and so for a half hour after I ate the radishes I got to hear anyone who walked by wonder what the horrible smell was. Apparently the combination of ginger and vinegar reminds some people of decomposition, so, while I was excused from blame due to my pregnant status (unlike the time I microwaved salmon), the boss lady still Febrezed my office.