Hi Mark, I'm glad to hear that looks like what you're talking about, and I have one lead after a quick search. It actually came from this forum: "Superstition Iris Gardens has Princess Beatrice for $4.00. Description is --Barr 1898 Diploid from England, beautiful satiny light lavender, falls somewhat pucker towards the end, clear orange beard, fragrant, "best of the pallidas". It has the intense grape fragrance." Here's the photo and here's the contact info for Superstition. I share your winter sentiments. 28 days 'til spring! Brock

Alum makes you "pucker", but it doesn't really help keep them crisp, IMO. Neither does grape leaves or pickling lime, or at least they don't help mine! There's a product called "Pickle Crisp", I think it was sodium chloride, but Ball stopped making it because it wasn't popular enough. Worked pretty well, though, and I'm glad I have a couple of boxes left from last year! I think it can be purchased in bulk still from other companies too. The best way to get crisp pickles is to use cucumbers the same day they are picked, as fresh as you can get them, pack them in ice to chill well and always cut off the blossom end. There's an enzyme in the blossom end that makes pickles soft, apparently. Anyway, for dills I use Chase's recipe. It doesn't meet USDA safety standards because it isn't 50/50 water and vinegar in the brine and it isn't hot water bath processed. I make them anyway for Dad because he loves them but I have to tell you that they break the U.S. "safety rules". Canada has different rules, so they use Chase's method, which sounds the same as Jimtex's way. A lot of older people still use that "open kettle" method but the USDA says it's not safe. Anyway, you choose the method you like, here's the recipe and I just canned 7 quarts of them. I did up the vinegar to 6 cups vinegar/10 cups water, but that's still not 50/50, LOL. Half and half each is just way too sour for me. Dill Pickles "This recipe for Kosher style dills was given to me 25 years ago by a farmers wife who grew cucumbers and it has never let me down. The two things I have found critical to crisp dill pickles are soaking the cukes in ice water for at least 2 hours and ensuring the brine is at a full boil when poured over the dills." Original recipe yield 8 - 1 quart jars 8 pounds 3 to 4 inch long pickling cucumbers 4 cups white vinegar 12 cups water 2/3 cup pickling salt 16 cloves garlic, peeled and halved 8 sprigs fresh dill weed 8 heads fresh dill weed DIRECTIONS Wash cucumbers, and place in the sink ( I use the bathtub!) with cold water and lots of ice cubes. Soak in ice water for at least 2 hours but no more than 8 hours. Refresh ice as required. Sterilize 8 (1 quart ) canning jars and lids in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the vinegar, water, and pickling salt. Bring the brine to a rapid boil. In each jar, place 2 half-cloves of garlic, one head of dill, then enough cucumbers to fill the jar (about 1 pound). Then add 2 more garlic halves, and 1 sprig of dill. Fill jars with hot brine. Seal jars, making sure you have cleaned the jar's rims of any residue. (If you choose to waterbath them, process quarts for 15 minutes) Store pickles for a minimum of 8 weeks before eating. Refrigerate after opening. Pickles will keep for up to 2 years if stored in a cool dry place. And here's a refrigerator pickle I got from San: THE FRUGS PICKLES In a saucepan, heat on low until thoroughly dissolved: 1 C water 1 tsp salt 1/2 C white vinegar 1/2 C sugar then stir in: 1/2 tsp celery seed 1/2 tsp mustard seed pour the above mix over: 2 cukes, thinly sliced (we use english cukes which are very thin-skinned and don't bother to peel them) 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced cover and refrigerate several hoursÂthese will keep a couple of weeks with no loss of crispness My favorite sweet pickle, but be aware that after I put the brine on them Ashley starts snitching them right out of the bucket on the counter so my yield is never what the recipe says, LOL. Linda Lou's Sweet Pickle Chunks Sweet pickle chunks: Every day for four days, pour boiling water over 24 pickling cukes. Drain off old water and use fresh water every day. On 5th day, drain, cut cukes into chunks and add this syrup. 8 cups sugar 4 cups cider vinegar 5% acidity 3 1/2 tsp. pickling and canning salt 2 Tbsp. pickling spices, tied in a bag. Bring syrup to a boil and pour over pickle chunks. Every day for 3 days, drain syrup, reheat and pour back over pickles. On 4th day, pack pickles into jars, seal with lid. Process in water bath canner for 10 minutes. For something different that the kids love (for some odd reason, LOL), here are some Koolaid pickles. Some people love 'em, some people hate 'em. I think they taste weird, but Ashley will eat half a jar, go figure. I don't know where it came from originally, this recipe was in my local newspaper, but I've seen it on the Food Network on "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives". He liked them too. KOOLAID PICKLES 1 (46 ounce) jar whole dill pickles 1 cup sugar 2 cups water 2 (1 ounce) packets kool-aid unsweetened cherry drink mix Directions Drain and discard the juice from the pickle jar. Remove the pickles from the jar and cut each one in half lengthwise. Return the pickles to the jar and set aside. In a large measuring cup, combine the sugar, water and Kool-Aid. Mix until the sugar has completely dissolved. Pour enough of the liquid into the pickle jar to cover the pickles. Discard any excess. Cover the jar and refrigerate at least 24 hours. This recipe is from my old Farm Journal Cookbook. It didn't call for a hot water bath, but I do it anyway and it doesn't seem to matter. I like the onions in there better than the cucumbers and I leave the peppers out altogether because no one likes them: Bread and Butter Pickles (Farm Journal) Quick Bread and Butter Pickles 4 quarts sliced medium-sized cucumbers 6 cups sliced white onions 2 green peppers, sliced to make 1 2/3 cups 3 cloves garlic 1/3 cup granulated pickling salt 5 cups sugar 3 cups apple cider vinegar 1 1/2 tsp. turmeric 1 1/2 tsp. celery seed 2 T. mustard seed Combine cucumbers, onion, green peppers and whole garlic cloves. Add salt; cover with cracked ice and mix thoroughly. Let stand 3 hours, then drain well. Remove garlic. Combine remaining ingredients; bring to a full boil for 5 minutes. Pack vegetables into jars and cover with hot syrup. Seal. (I put them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes) Makes 8 pints. So, whatcha waiting for? Make some pickles, LOL. Annie

Cool, nicole! Can't wait to see pics! Here's the recipe: 1 (46-ounce) jar whole dill pickles 1 cup sugar 2 cups water 2 packets red Kool-Aid (such as cherry flavored) How to make it -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drain and discard the juice from the pickle jar. Remove the pickles from the jar and cut each one in half lengthwise. Return the pickles to the jar and set aside. In a large measuring cup, combine the sugar, water and Kool-Aid. Mix until the sugar has completely dissolved. Pour enough of the liquid into the pickle jar to cover the pickles. Discard any excess. Cover the jar and refrigerate at least 24 hours.

Thanks everyone! It's so fun to finally be able to share this. A couple things I left out of my post up top: The old kitchen was in that set up when we bought the house (minus the sideboard and Ikea table in the back, which we bought). We lived with that for 18 years. Eighteen years!!! I hated that kitchen so much that I didn't even care about damage. My mom burned the laminate once by putting a hot pan right on it, and I was like "whatever. It's ugly already." Sometimes I cut vegetables right on the laminate b/c I just didn't care. As to the light and clean lines in the new kitchen, I am enjoying that sooo much. I surprised myself in the planning process because I didn't expect to be so drawn to white and light wood. I am usually a dark wood person. But I think being in such a cramped space with poor lighting for so long (even though the tiles, cabs, and floor were light) really made me crave simplicity and openness. Mama goose, I had meant to mention the pull-down table before. We ended up not doing it because the designer squeezed in that little counter at the back of the room, and I realized that we could have shallow cabinets that protruded on the interior wall (just not a huge fridge). And it turned out that we couldn't recess anything on that interior wall because of the vent stack. :( Also want to thank Anglophilia for her consistent recommendation of Glacier White Corian. And is CPartist gone now? I can't remember specifically what we talked about, but I know she was involved at some point too.