Happy Independence day!

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Quiet day so far. That is so good. I may even have it all to myself. I am hoping on that. Thus far today I have watched a movie..Gothica..starring Halle Berry. I hate I missed this one in the theaters. It was really good. Better than I thought. I watched it twice to be sure I did not miss anything. I always see a few new things I missed the first time, the second time around.

I went to a get together yesterday evening at a neighbors house and had great food. The host is a chef at a local restaurant so everything was gourmet. The food and layout was fabulous. One of the most interesting things I tried was the pickled garlic. Yes! Garlic...pickled. It is heaven. It tastes just like pickles with just a hint...a very small hint... of garlic. They were so good that I asked for a little to go home. I was given a cup full and I have been eating them all day. I have about 10 cloves of pickled garlic left out of that cup. They are good! I will be searching for a recipe so that I can make them myself.

I asked the host where he got them. He said he made this batch, but they can be bought. The restarant where he works orders them direct from Spain. The party itself was like a dream. He has a large back yard that is set up like a bistro side walk cafe in Paris. I did not feel like I was in anyone's back yard. I felt like I was at a restaruant. Open bar was included. He served all sorts of exotic amber beer in addition to lots of wine and mixed drinks.

Back again...I just googled up this recipe for pickled garlic from All Recipes. This is the one I plan to try. Seems simple enough. I have no idea how this will turn out as I have not tested this recipe before, but it seems very simple.

Pickled Garlic

These pickled garlic cloves take a long time, but they're
easy to make and are a real treat. Prep Time: approx. 45
Minutes. Cook Time: approx. 15 Minutes. Ready in: approx. 505
Hours . Makes 1 pint (16 servings).
Printed from Allrecipes, Submitted by Brenda Kraneveldt

Ingredients
1/2 pound garlic, peeled
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups distilled white vinegar

2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon celery seed

Directions
1 Place garlic cloves in a medium bowl, first cutting the
large cloves in half. Mix in the red bell pepper.

2 In a large saucepan over medium high heat, place the
distilled white vinegar and white sugar. Wrap ground dry mustard
and celery seed in a spice bag, and place in the liquid
mixture. Bring to a boil. Boil 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and
pepper. Continue boiling 5 minutes. Remove from heat and
discard spice bag.

3 Place garlic and peppers in sterile containers to
within 1 inch of the top. Fill with remaining liquid to
within 1/4 inch from the top. Seal and store in the
refrigerator approximately three weeks before serving.

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~